Liberty High School, class of 1972
William Jewell College
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity
Cantor at Immaculate Conception Cathederal
Studied: Conception Seminary - Conception Junction, Missouri
St. Meinrad's Seminary, St. Meinrad , Indiana.
(BIO info provided by contributor Christopher Harris)
Before his death, Rev. Hughes was invested as a knight within the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem [Catholic]
He was associate pastor of St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Kansas City, Missouri
Pastor of St. Rose of Lima at Savannah, Missouri
Pastor of Forrest City Mission at Forrest City, Missouri
The Catholic Key Newspaper (Obituary / Tribute)
On July 12, 2000, six days after his 46th birthday anniversary, Father Hughes locked the doors and windows of his rectory at St. Rose of Lima Parish here, where he served as pastor since 1998. He put on his pajamas and went to bed. The next morning after he failed to show up at the parish office, his body was found, still in bed as if he were still asleep.
He suffered, quite literally and quietly, from several ailments that would combine to claim his life, said his longtime friend Father Michael Coleman, who preached the homily at Father Hughes' funeral July 17.
Mourners filled every corner of St. Rose of Lima Church. They came from St. Patrick Mission in Forest City, where Father Hughes also pastored. They came from St. Elizabeth Parish in Kansas City, where he served two years as associate pastor. They came from St. Peter Parish in Kansas City, where Father Hughes served an internship as a seminarian and where he celebrated his first Mass. They came from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, where Father Hughes worked as a music minister and as a laborer, overcame his alcoholism, and made the decision, under the mentorship of the late Bishop Charles H. Helmsing, to become a priest. They came from St. James Parish in Liberty, where he converted to Catholicism.
A second memorial Mass in Kansas City, open to all, will be celebrated at 6:30 p.m. July 25 at St. Elizabeth Parish, 75th and Main streets. Father Hughes, ordained June 8, 1996, was a diabetic and a recovering alcoholic who hadn't touched alcohol since 1985. But it was the lingering effects, including excruciating headaches, of a 1989 automobile wreck that would slowly take his life some 11 years later, Father Coleman said.
The accident occurred Feb. 2, 1989, on an ice-slick road in rural Jackson County. The car in which he was a passenger skidded off a bridge and submerged upside down in the Blackwater River. His fellow passengers quickly escaped with only cuts and bruises. But his seatbelt jammed and Father Hughes remained trapped under water for 10 minutes.
"I drowned, as in no heartbeat drowned," Father Hughes told The Catholic Key in an interview shortly before his ordination. "Someone who was in the car with me knew CPR and got my heart going again. That's the only reason I'm alive."
Father Hughes was in a coma for two weeks. It was another two months before he was discharged from Liberty Hospital, where he was transferred so that his family could be close at hand when he died. "He told me once," Father Coleman said, "that the accident was a wake-up call from God: 'Joe, do something with your life.'" But Father Hughes would never recover fully, Father Coleman said.
After his discharge from the hospital, doctors discovered that bacteria from the river water had invaded Father Hughes' cranial cavities and were eating away the bones in his face and head, Father Coleman told The Catholic Key. Father Hughes underwent several surgeries, the last one just weeks before his death, to remove infected portions of bone. But none were completely successful in ending his infection or pain.
"I cannot tell you how much he suffered, and the suffering only grew worse with each succeeding year," Father Coleman told the congregation. "But through suffering, Joe learned obedience." Father Hughes, outwardly robust with his trained operatic baritone voice, bore his suffering so well that diocesan officials and his fellow priests sometimes failed to understand his frequent absences and sometimes inappropriate answers to simple questions, said Vicar General Father Patrick Rush. "Sometimes, our confusion translated into frustration," Father Rush said. "We now have the task of asking him for forgiveness."
Father Tom Ludwig, who preceded Father Hughes as pastor of the Savannah and Forest City communities, was principal celebrant at the funeral Mass. He told a story of his successor's generosity.
Returning to St. Rose of Lima to preside at the funeral of a longtime parishioner, Father Ludwig told Father Hughes that the casket had no crucifix, and that it was the custom of the parish to provide one. "He took off, and I thought, 'Well, that's an odd response,'" Father Ludwig said. Father Hughes returned a few minutes later with a crucifix. "He went to his office, took a crucifix that meant a lot to him off the wall, and put it on the casket for this family," Father Ludwig said. "He told me, 'They need it more than I do.'"
On Father Hughes' simple wooden casket was a crucifix from Ireland, given to him only a month earlier by his brother, the Rev. Charles Hughes, a Southern Baptist minister. Father Hughes would often joke that his family was the only one in the world with two ordained Baptist ministers (his father and his brother) and a Roman Catholic priest.
Father Hughes' Southern Baptist roots gave him the faith that would lead to his ability to overcome his alcholism and deal with his diabetes and the lingering pain from the auto accident.
"Joseph was led to claim Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior and to seek baptism," Father Coleman said. "It is important that Roman Catholics fully appreciate the impact of those words in their context," he said. "To a person who is truly converted, it means that Jesus Christ is the center and focus of your life. He is the solid rock upon which the Christian stands in complete security. Nothing else is more important than that, and knowing what is primary in your life makes everything fall in place."
"Once Joe embraced the Lord Jesus, the direction of his life was set," Father Coleman said. "It's a good thing this happened to him when it did, for in later years, much darkness would enter his life, causing his family and those who knew him well much concern. But Jesus, the good shepherd, never lets go of what is his, and eventually Joe was found and brought back into the light on the good shepherd's shoulders."
Father Coleman quoted Father Hughes' words to The Catholic Key shortly before his ordination: "I'm willing to concede that the Holy Spirit knows what he is doing," Father Hughes said four years ago. "I am perfectly aware that I am incapable of doing any of this. I understand what a gold mine all the garbage I've been through is. I've had the grace of being totally dependent on God, of being completely helpless, when all you have left is faith and you find out that is enough."
(I am his nephew )
Contributor: Christopher Harris (47507278) •
William Jewell College
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity
Cantor at Immaculate Conception Cathederal
Studied: Conception Seminary - Conception Junction, Missouri
St. Meinrad's Seminary, St. Meinrad , Indiana.
(BIO info provided by contributor Christopher Harris)
Before his death, Rev. Hughes was invested as a knight within the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem [Catholic]
He was associate pastor of St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Kansas City, Missouri
Pastor of St. Rose of Lima at Savannah, Missouri
Pastor of Forrest City Mission at Forrest City, Missouri
The Catholic Key Newspaper (Obituary / Tribute)
On July 12, 2000, six days after his 46th birthday anniversary, Father Hughes locked the doors and windows of his rectory at St. Rose of Lima Parish here, where he served as pastor since 1998. He put on his pajamas and went to bed. The next morning after he failed to show up at the parish office, his body was found, still in bed as if he were still asleep.
He suffered, quite literally and quietly, from several ailments that would combine to claim his life, said his longtime friend Father Michael Coleman, who preached the homily at Father Hughes' funeral July 17.
Mourners filled every corner of St. Rose of Lima Church. They came from St. Patrick Mission in Forest City, where Father Hughes also pastored. They came from St. Elizabeth Parish in Kansas City, where he served two years as associate pastor. They came from St. Peter Parish in Kansas City, where Father Hughes served an internship as a seminarian and where he celebrated his first Mass. They came from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, where Father Hughes worked as a music minister and as a laborer, overcame his alcoholism, and made the decision, under the mentorship of the late Bishop Charles H. Helmsing, to become a priest. They came from St. James Parish in Liberty, where he converted to Catholicism.
A second memorial Mass in Kansas City, open to all, will be celebrated at 6:30 p.m. July 25 at St. Elizabeth Parish, 75th and Main streets. Father Hughes, ordained June 8, 1996, was a diabetic and a recovering alcoholic who hadn't touched alcohol since 1985. But it was the lingering effects, including excruciating headaches, of a 1989 automobile wreck that would slowly take his life some 11 years later, Father Coleman said.
The accident occurred Feb. 2, 1989, on an ice-slick road in rural Jackson County. The car in which he was a passenger skidded off a bridge and submerged upside down in the Blackwater River. His fellow passengers quickly escaped with only cuts and bruises. But his seatbelt jammed and Father Hughes remained trapped under water for 10 minutes.
"I drowned, as in no heartbeat drowned," Father Hughes told The Catholic Key in an interview shortly before his ordination. "Someone who was in the car with me knew CPR and got my heart going again. That's the only reason I'm alive."
Father Hughes was in a coma for two weeks. It was another two months before he was discharged from Liberty Hospital, where he was transferred so that his family could be close at hand when he died. "He told me once," Father Coleman said, "that the accident was a wake-up call from God: 'Joe, do something with your life.'" But Father Hughes would never recover fully, Father Coleman said.
After his discharge from the hospital, doctors discovered that bacteria from the river water had invaded Father Hughes' cranial cavities and were eating away the bones in his face and head, Father Coleman told The Catholic Key. Father Hughes underwent several surgeries, the last one just weeks before his death, to remove infected portions of bone. But none were completely successful in ending his infection or pain.
"I cannot tell you how much he suffered, and the suffering only grew worse with each succeeding year," Father Coleman told the congregation. "But through suffering, Joe learned obedience." Father Hughes, outwardly robust with his trained operatic baritone voice, bore his suffering so well that diocesan officials and his fellow priests sometimes failed to understand his frequent absences and sometimes inappropriate answers to simple questions, said Vicar General Father Patrick Rush. "Sometimes, our confusion translated into frustration," Father Rush said. "We now have the task of asking him for forgiveness."
Father Tom Ludwig, who preceded Father Hughes as pastor of the Savannah and Forest City communities, was principal celebrant at the funeral Mass. He told a story of his successor's generosity.
Returning to St. Rose of Lima to preside at the funeral of a longtime parishioner, Father Ludwig told Father Hughes that the casket had no crucifix, and that it was the custom of the parish to provide one. "He took off, and I thought, 'Well, that's an odd response,'" Father Ludwig said. Father Hughes returned a few minutes later with a crucifix. "He went to his office, took a crucifix that meant a lot to him off the wall, and put it on the casket for this family," Father Ludwig said. "He told me, 'They need it more than I do.'"
On Father Hughes' simple wooden casket was a crucifix from Ireland, given to him only a month earlier by his brother, the Rev. Charles Hughes, a Southern Baptist minister. Father Hughes would often joke that his family was the only one in the world with two ordained Baptist ministers (his father and his brother) and a Roman Catholic priest.
Father Hughes' Southern Baptist roots gave him the faith that would lead to his ability to overcome his alcholism and deal with his diabetes and the lingering pain from the auto accident.
"Joseph was led to claim Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior and to seek baptism," Father Coleman said. "It is important that Roman Catholics fully appreciate the impact of those words in their context," he said. "To a person who is truly converted, it means that Jesus Christ is the center and focus of your life. He is the solid rock upon which the Christian stands in complete security. Nothing else is more important than that, and knowing what is primary in your life makes everything fall in place."
"Once Joe embraced the Lord Jesus, the direction of his life was set," Father Coleman said. "It's a good thing this happened to him when it did, for in later years, much darkness would enter his life, causing his family and those who knew him well much concern. But Jesus, the good shepherd, never lets go of what is his, and eventually Joe was found and brought back into the light on the good shepherd's shoulders."
Father Coleman quoted Father Hughes' words to The Catholic Key shortly before his ordination: "I'm willing to concede that the Holy Spirit knows what he is doing," Father Hughes said four years ago. "I am perfectly aware that I am incapable of doing any of this. I understand what a gold mine all the garbage I've been through is. I've had the grace of being totally dependent on God, of being completely helpless, when all you have left is faith and you find out that is enough."
(I am his nephew )
Contributor: Christopher Harris (47507278) •
Liberty High School, class of 1972
William Jewell College
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity
Cantor at Immaculate Conception Cathederal
Studied: Conception Seminary - Conception Junction, Missouri
St. Meinrad's Seminary, St. Meinrad , Indiana.
(BIO info provided by contributor Christopher Harris)
Before his death, Rev. Hughes was invested as a knight within the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem [Catholic]
He was associate pastor of St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Kansas City, Missouri
Pastor of St. Rose of Lima at Savannah, Missouri
Pastor of Forrest City Mission at Forrest City, Missouri
The Catholic Key Newspaper (Obituary / Tribute)
On July 12, 2000, six days after his 46th birthday anniversary, Father Hughes locked the doors and windows of his rectory at St. Rose of Lima Parish here, where he served as pastor since 1998. He put on his pajamas and went to bed. The next morning after he failed to show up at the parish office, his body was found, still in bed as if he were still asleep.
He suffered, quite literally and quietly, from several ailments that would combine to claim his life, said his longtime friend Father Michael Coleman, who preached the homily at Father Hughes' funeral July 17.
Mourners filled every corner of St. Rose of Lima Church. They came from St. Patrick Mission in Forest City, where Father Hughes also pastored. They came from St. Elizabeth Parish in Kansas City, where he served two years as associate pastor. They came from St. Peter Parish in Kansas City, where Father Hughes served an internship as a seminarian and where he celebrated his first Mass. They came from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, where Father Hughes worked as a music minister and as a laborer, overcame his alcoholism, and made the decision, under the mentorship of the late Bishop Charles H. Helmsing, to become a priest. They came from St. James Parish in Liberty, where he converted to Catholicism.
A second memorial Mass in Kansas City, open to all, will be celebrated at 6:30 p.m. July 25 at St. Elizabeth Parish, 75th and Main streets. Father Hughes, ordained June 8, 1996, was a diabetic and a recovering alcoholic who hadn't touched alcohol since 1985. But it was the lingering effects, including excruciating headaches, of a 1989 automobile wreck that would slowly take his life some 11 years later, Father Coleman said.
The accident occurred Feb. 2, 1989, on an ice-slick road in rural Jackson County. The car in which he was a passenger skidded off a bridge and submerged upside down in the Blackwater River. His fellow passengers quickly escaped with only cuts and bruises. But his seatbelt jammed and Father Hughes remained trapped under water for 10 minutes.
"I drowned, as in no heartbeat drowned," Father Hughes told The Catholic Key in an interview shortly before his ordination. "Someone who was in the car with me knew CPR and got my heart going again. That's the only reason I'm alive."
Father Hughes was in a coma for two weeks. It was another two months before he was discharged from Liberty Hospital, where he was transferred so that his family could be close at hand when he died. "He told me once," Father Coleman said, "that the accident was a wake-up call from God: 'Joe, do something with your life.'" But Father Hughes would never recover fully, Father Coleman said.
After his discharge from the hospital, doctors discovered that bacteria from the river water had invaded Father Hughes' cranial cavities and were eating away the bones in his face and head, Father Coleman told The Catholic Key. Father Hughes underwent several surgeries, the last one just weeks before his death, to remove infected portions of bone. But none were completely successful in ending his infection or pain.
"I cannot tell you how much he suffered, and the suffering only grew worse with each succeeding year," Father Coleman told the congregation. "But through suffering, Joe learned obedience." Father Hughes, outwardly robust with his trained operatic baritone voice, bore his suffering so well that diocesan officials and his fellow priests sometimes failed to understand his frequent absences and sometimes inappropriate answers to simple questions, said Vicar General Father Patrick Rush. "Sometimes, our confusion translated into frustration," Father Rush said. "We now have the task of asking him for forgiveness."
Father Tom Ludwig, who preceded Father Hughes as pastor of the Savannah and Forest City communities, was principal celebrant at the funeral Mass. He told a story of his successor's generosity.
Returning to St. Rose of Lima to preside at the funeral of a longtime parishioner, Father Ludwig told Father Hughes that the casket had no crucifix, and that it was the custom of the parish to provide one. "He took off, and I thought, 'Well, that's an odd response,'" Father Ludwig said. Father Hughes returned a few minutes later with a crucifix. "He went to his office, took a crucifix that meant a lot to him off the wall, and put it on the casket for this family," Father Ludwig said. "He told me, 'They need it more than I do.'"
On Father Hughes' simple wooden casket was a crucifix from Ireland, given to him only a month earlier by his brother, the Rev. Charles Hughes, a Southern Baptist minister. Father Hughes would often joke that his family was the only one in the world with two ordained Baptist ministers (his father and his brother) and a Roman Catholic priest.
Father Hughes' Southern Baptist roots gave him the faith that would lead to his ability to overcome his alcholism and deal with his diabetes and the lingering pain from the auto accident.
"Joseph was led to claim Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior and to seek baptism," Father Coleman said. "It is important that Roman Catholics fully appreciate the impact of those words in their context," he said. "To a person who is truly converted, it means that Jesus Christ is the center and focus of your life. He is the solid rock upon which the Christian stands in complete security. Nothing else is more important than that, and knowing what is primary in your life makes everything fall in place."
"Once Joe embraced the Lord Jesus, the direction of his life was set," Father Coleman said. "It's a good thing this happened to him when it did, for in later years, much darkness would enter his life, causing his family and those who knew him well much concern. But Jesus, the good shepherd, never lets go of what is his, and eventually Joe was found and brought back into the light on the good shepherd's shoulders."
Father Coleman quoted Father Hughes' words to The Catholic Key shortly before his ordination: "I'm willing to concede that the Holy Spirit knows what he is doing," Father Hughes said four years ago. "I am perfectly aware that I am incapable of doing any of this. I understand what a gold mine all the garbage I've been through is. I've had the grace of being totally dependent on God, of being completely helpless, when all you have left is faith and you find out that is enough."
(I am his nephew )
Contributor: Christopher Harris (47507278) •
William Jewell College
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity
Cantor at Immaculate Conception Cathederal
Studied: Conception Seminary - Conception Junction, Missouri
St. Meinrad's Seminary, St. Meinrad , Indiana.
(BIO info provided by contributor Christopher Harris)
Before his death, Rev. Hughes was invested as a knight within the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem [Catholic]
He was associate pastor of St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Kansas City, Missouri
Pastor of St. Rose of Lima at Savannah, Missouri
Pastor of Forrest City Mission at Forrest City, Missouri
The Catholic Key Newspaper (Obituary / Tribute)
On July 12, 2000, six days after his 46th birthday anniversary, Father Hughes locked the doors and windows of his rectory at St. Rose of Lima Parish here, where he served as pastor since 1998. He put on his pajamas and went to bed. The next morning after he failed to show up at the parish office, his body was found, still in bed as if he were still asleep.
He suffered, quite literally and quietly, from several ailments that would combine to claim his life, said his longtime friend Father Michael Coleman, who preached the homily at Father Hughes' funeral July 17.
Mourners filled every corner of St. Rose of Lima Church. They came from St. Patrick Mission in Forest City, where Father Hughes also pastored. They came from St. Elizabeth Parish in Kansas City, where he served two years as associate pastor. They came from St. Peter Parish in Kansas City, where Father Hughes served an internship as a seminarian and where he celebrated his first Mass. They came from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City, where Father Hughes worked as a music minister and as a laborer, overcame his alcoholism, and made the decision, under the mentorship of the late Bishop Charles H. Helmsing, to become a priest. They came from St. James Parish in Liberty, where he converted to Catholicism.
A second memorial Mass in Kansas City, open to all, will be celebrated at 6:30 p.m. July 25 at St. Elizabeth Parish, 75th and Main streets. Father Hughes, ordained June 8, 1996, was a diabetic and a recovering alcoholic who hadn't touched alcohol since 1985. But it was the lingering effects, including excruciating headaches, of a 1989 automobile wreck that would slowly take his life some 11 years later, Father Coleman said.
The accident occurred Feb. 2, 1989, on an ice-slick road in rural Jackson County. The car in which he was a passenger skidded off a bridge and submerged upside down in the Blackwater River. His fellow passengers quickly escaped with only cuts and bruises. But his seatbelt jammed and Father Hughes remained trapped under water for 10 minutes.
"I drowned, as in no heartbeat drowned," Father Hughes told The Catholic Key in an interview shortly before his ordination. "Someone who was in the car with me knew CPR and got my heart going again. That's the only reason I'm alive."
Father Hughes was in a coma for two weeks. It was another two months before he was discharged from Liberty Hospital, where he was transferred so that his family could be close at hand when he died. "He told me once," Father Coleman said, "that the accident was a wake-up call from God: 'Joe, do something with your life.'" But Father Hughes would never recover fully, Father Coleman said.
After his discharge from the hospital, doctors discovered that bacteria from the river water had invaded Father Hughes' cranial cavities and were eating away the bones in his face and head, Father Coleman told The Catholic Key. Father Hughes underwent several surgeries, the last one just weeks before his death, to remove infected portions of bone. But none were completely successful in ending his infection or pain.
"I cannot tell you how much he suffered, and the suffering only grew worse with each succeeding year," Father Coleman told the congregation. "But through suffering, Joe learned obedience." Father Hughes, outwardly robust with his trained operatic baritone voice, bore his suffering so well that diocesan officials and his fellow priests sometimes failed to understand his frequent absences and sometimes inappropriate answers to simple questions, said Vicar General Father Patrick Rush. "Sometimes, our confusion translated into frustration," Father Rush said. "We now have the task of asking him for forgiveness."
Father Tom Ludwig, who preceded Father Hughes as pastor of the Savannah and Forest City communities, was principal celebrant at the funeral Mass. He told a story of his successor's generosity.
Returning to St. Rose of Lima to preside at the funeral of a longtime parishioner, Father Ludwig told Father Hughes that the casket had no crucifix, and that it was the custom of the parish to provide one. "He took off, and I thought, 'Well, that's an odd response,'" Father Ludwig said. Father Hughes returned a few minutes later with a crucifix. "He went to his office, took a crucifix that meant a lot to him off the wall, and put it on the casket for this family," Father Ludwig said. "He told me, 'They need it more than I do.'"
On Father Hughes' simple wooden casket was a crucifix from Ireland, given to him only a month earlier by his brother, the Rev. Charles Hughes, a Southern Baptist minister. Father Hughes would often joke that his family was the only one in the world with two ordained Baptist ministers (his father and his brother) and a Roman Catholic priest.
Father Hughes' Southern Baptist roots gave him the faith that would lead to his ability to overcome his alcholism and deal with his diabetes and the lingering pain from the auto accident.
"Joseph was led to claim Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior and to seek baptism," Father Coleman said. "It is important that Roman Catholics fully appreciate the impact of those words in their context," he said. "To a person who is truly converted, it means that Jesus Christ is the center and focus of your life. He is the solid rock upon which the Christian stands in complete security. Nothing else is more important than that, and knowing what is primary in your life makes everything fall in place."
"Once Joe embraced the Lord Jesus, the direction of his life was set," Father Coleman said. "It's a good thing this happened to him when it did, for in later years, much darkness would enter his life, causing his family and those who knew him well much concern. But Jesus, the good shepherd, never lets go of what is his, and eventually Joe was found and brought back into the light on the good shepherd's shoulders."
Father Coleman quoted Father Hughes' words to The Catholic Key shortly before his ordination: "I'm willing to concede that the Holy Spirit knows what he is doing," Father Hughes said four years ago. "I am perfectly aware that I am incapable of doing any of this. I understand what a gold mine all the garbage I've been through is. I've had the grace of being totally dependent on God, of being completely helpless, when all you have left is faith and you find out that is enough."
(I am his nephew )
Contributor: Christopher Harris (47507278) •
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