Obituary for Barbara M. Hughes
Barbara May Hughes passed away on November 23, 2022 at the Avantara Rehabilitation Center in Clark, South Dakota. She will be missed as a friend, a sister, a mother, a grandmother, and a great grandmother.
Memorial services are 2:00 p.m., with visitation one hour prior, on Monday, November 28, 2022 at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Watertown, SD.
Mt. Olive Church will live stream the service. Go to: https://youtu.be/ra3SynChCYk OR go directly to the church website.
Interment will be Mt. Hope Cemetery in Watertown.
Barbara was born Barbara May Baxter on April 22, 1937, to Everett and Cecelia (Buckendorf) Baxter. Barbara grew up on a farm near Hazel, South Dakota, with her parents and her sister Joyce. She attended the Methodist Church in Hazel and country school Oxford #5 through 8th grade. Barb transferred to Watertown for high school, graduating in 1955. After high school Barb attended South Dakota State University, majoring in home economics. At SDSU she lived with a group of women who would be friends for the rest of her life. They called themselves the Knight House girls. There were twelve of them who shared one bathroom and much laughter.
At SDSU Barb also met Derald Hughes of Gettysburg, SD, and they fell in love. Barb and Derald continued dating after Derald graduated in 1958 and moved to Minneapolis. They married at the United Methodist Church of Watertown on June 28, 1959. They lived at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for a time and then in Aberdeen before moving to 9th Street in Watertown and finally settling down in their new home on 7th Street where they would live for the rest of their lives.
After Barb taught home economics for a time in Barnard, Barb and Derald started a family and a business, 4th Street Pharmacy.
Barbara’s life revolved for many years around these things, her children and her support for the pharmacy. She worked part-time and ordered merchandise for the pharmacy, and she cooked meals for her family and made friends in the neighborhood. Although some of her friends moved away, they would remain close throughout their lives through fishing trips at Spirit Lake, Minnesota, and New Year's trips to Duluth. Through it all there was a lot of good food and six-handed pinochle. Talking on the phone with her friends and family provided Barb with a source of joy until the end of her life.
Barb volunteered for years in a variety of community groups. She was a 4-H leader of the Shamrock Lassies for 10 years, planning monthly gatherings and helping with events such as fashion reviews and special food contests. She was a member of the American Association of University Women for many years as well as the SDSU Alumni Association. She was proud to have been the first woman president of the SDSU Alumni Association and to have played a part in building some of its facilities in Brookings.
Throughout their lives, Barb and Derald enjoyed traveling. Their winter trips to Las Vegas, Mexico, and the Bahamas gave them a break from work and from the cold winters in South Dakota. They especially loved visiting their children and watching their grandchildren grow up. Florida, Minneapolis, California, and Seattle were some of their many destinations.
In the last years of her life, Barb loved seeing pictures and videos of her four great grandchildren.
Another way that Barb and Derald found relief from the stress of owning a business was through their lake cabin. During the summer months, Barb planned and shopped and packed up for weekends at the lake. Although the facilities were fairly primitive, the fun was real. Campfires, fireworks, barbeques, boating, and birthdays were all a part of the cabin experience.
Barb and Derald attended Mt. Olive Lutheran Church. Their shared faith and the love and fellowship that they found at Mt. Olive sustained them through the good times as well as the difficult times in their lives. That love and faith brings them home now to their resting place in the Lord.
Barb is survived by her sister, Joyce Skelton of Watertown, SD; her children Diane Stoick and Alan of Silver Creek, WA; Nadine Steichen and Trent of Ridgecrest, CA; and Janet Johnson and Troy of Lakeville, MN; her grandchildren Laura (Stoick) Woodruff and Taylor of Kirkland, WA; Marisa (Stoick) Furney and Andrew of Chicago, IL; and Logan Stoick of Kent, WA; Shannon (Steichen) Shewmaker and Kris of Manhattan, KS; Joelle Steichen of Kirkland, WA; Gunnar Johnson of Fridley, MN; and Tanner Johnson, of Fargo, ND; and her great grandchildren Everett James and Bo Porter Shewmaker; and Peyton Marie and Weston James Woodruff.
Her husband, Derald, passed away on January 31, 2017 in Ridgecrest, CA.
Memorials for Barbara can be sent to Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, 715 2nd Street NE, Watertown, SD 57201; the Everett and Cecelia Baxter Family Scholarship, Fund 10034-40 administered through the SDSU Foundation, 815 Medary Ave, Brookings, SD 57006.
Memorial services are 2:00 p.m., with visitation one hour prior, on Monday, November 28, 2022 at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Watertown, SD.
Mt. Olive Church will live stream the service. Go to: https://youtu.be/ra3SynChCYk OR go directly to the church website.
Interment will be Mt. Hope Cemetery in Watertown.
Barbara was born Barbara May Baxter on April 22, 1937, to Everett and Cecelia (Buckendorf) Baxter. Barbara grew up on a farm near Hazel, South Dakota, with her parents and her sister Joyce. She attended the Methodist Church in Hazel and country school Oxford #5 through 8th grade. Barb transferred to Watertown for high school, graduating in 1955. After high school Barb attended South Dakota State University, majoring in home economics. At SDSU she lived with a group of women who would be friends for the rest of her life. They called themselves the Knight House girls. There were twelve of them who shared one bathroom and much laughter.
At SDSU Barb also met Derald Hughes of Gettysburg, SD, and they fell in love. Barb and Derald continued dating after Derald graduated in 1958 and moved to Minneapolis. They married at the United Methodist Church of Watertown on June 28, 1959. They lived at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for a time and then in Aberdeen before moving to 9th Street in Watertown and finally settling down in their new home on 7th Street where they would live for the rest of their lives.
After Barb taught home economics for a time in Barnard, Barb and Derald started a family and a business, 4th Street Pharmacy.
Barbara’s life revolved for many years around these things, her children and her support for the pharmacy. She worked part-time and ordered merchandise for the pharmacy, and she cooked meals for her family and made friends in the neighborhood. Although some of her friends moved away, they would remain close throughout their lives through fishing trips at Spirit Lake, Minnesota, and New Year's trips to Duluth. Through it all there was a lot of good food and six-handed pinochle. Talking on the phone with her friends and family provided Barb with a source of joy until the end of her life.
Barb volunteered for years in a variety of community groups. She was a 4-H leader of the Shamrock Lassies for 10 years, planning monthly gatherings and helping with events such as fashion reviews and special food contests. She was a member of the American Association of University Women for many years as well as the SDSU Alumni Association. She was proud to have been the first woman president of the SDSU Alumni Association and to have played a part in building some of its facilities in Brookings.
Throughout their lives, Barb and Derald enjoyed traveling. Their winter trips to Las Vegas, Mexico, and the Bahamas gave them a break from work and from the cold winters in South Dakota. They especially loved visiting their children and watching their grandchildren grow up. Florida, Minneapolis, California, and Seattle were some of their many destinations.
In the last years of her life, Barb loved seeing pictures and videos of her four great grandchildren.
Another way that Barb and Derald found relief from the stress of owning a business was through their lake cabin. During the summer months, Barb planned and shopped and packed up for weekends at the lake. Although the facilities were fairly primitive, the fun was real. Campfires, fireworks, barbeques, boating, and birthdays were all a part of the cabin experience.
Barb and Derald attended Mt. Olive Lutheran Church. Their shared faith and the love and fellowship that they found at Mt. Olive sustained them through the good times as well as the difficult times in their lives. That love and faith brings them home now to their resting place in the Lord.
Barb is survived by her sister, Joyce Skelton of Watertown, SD; her children Diane Stoick and Alan of Silver Creek, WA; Nadine Steichen and Trent of Ridgecrest, CA; and Janet Johnson and Troy of Lakeville, MN; her grandchildren Laura (Stoick) Woodruff and Taylor of Kirkland, WA; Marisa (Stoick) Furney and Andrew of Chicago, IL; and Logan Stoick of Kent, WA; Shannon (Steichen) Shewmaker and Kris of Manhattan, KS; Joelle Steichen of Kirkland, WA; Gunnar Johnson of Fridley, MN; and Tanner Johnson, of Fargo, ND; and her great grandchildren Everett James and Bo Porter Shewmaker; and Peyton Marie and Weston James Woodruff.
Her husband, Derald, passed away on January 31, 2017 in Ridgecrest, CA.
Memorials for Barbara can be sent to Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, 715 2nd Street NE, Watertown, SD 57201; the Everett and Cecelia Baxter Family Scholarship, Fund 10034-40 administered through the SDSU Foundation, 815 Medary Ave, Brookings, SD 57006.