Marguerite "Reet" Hughes

Marguerite “Reet” (McGuire) Hughes was born April 15, 1929 in Frostburg, MD, at home. She was the daughter of Patrick and Agnes (Arnold) McGuire of Frostburg. She is the last of her family and was the youngest of 6 siblings. She was married to William (Bill) Joseph Hughes June 30, 1956. Surviving is her only child, Raymond Hughes and wife Kristina Hughes of Frostburg and their children, Annabeth, Carolyn, William, and Patrick Hughes all of Frostburg. Also surviving are her loving nieces Patricia Arredondo, Barbara Chaneyworth, and Debra Tierney and their Texas families, and her niece Marie Alsop and her family from Maryland.

Marguerite graduated from Beall High School, Class of 1947, and Catherman’s Business School in 1947. She was the Administrative Assistant to 5 presidents at Frostburg State College/University for 30 years, retiring in June of 1979. She volunteered playing the piano for 25 years for a sing-along once a week at Frostburg Village Nursing Home. She volunteered once a month at the Lions Center for many years as well. 

Marguerite’s hobbies included working! She said when she retired she still needed to work and could have been found weeding her flower garden, painting her deck, cleaning just about anything, and searching for the next best thing to keep her in good health to spend as much time with her family as she could. She absolutely loved playing the slots at Rocky Gap, during trips to Atlantic City, NJ, at various spots in WV, and during a cruise to Bermuda; for her, going to the casino was pure joy. She would literally spend all night there! Another love and joy for her was ballroom dancing. She and Bill regularly attended dances in town and out of town, even teaching Ray and Kristi so they could dance with them too. Marguerite loved gardening, writing, boating, taking care of her cats and dogs over the years, and playing piano by ear for hours on end. She had immeasurable intelligence with the ability to sing three verses of songs from the 30’s, had a passion for Christmas decorating, and loved cooking dozens of different types of cookies at Christmas, used molds to make hard tack candy, made her own divinity fudge at Easter, and made the most delicious peanut butter balls year round! She also loved playing games with her family with favorites being Scrabble and Kings in the Corner.

Her wish to the end was to live to be there to see her grandchildren grow up. She cared for all four whenever she could, and years before she cared for her nieces for long periods of time, during their childhood when their father was stationed overseas. She did not grow up with much, and continually shared stories of her life and her wish that we all appreciate what we have. In her words:

“If you don’t get what you wish for, don’t dismay,

There will come along a better day.

Although I never wished for much, I say

Many good things have come my way.”

A visitation will be held at Sowers Funeral Home in Frostburg, MD on Sunday, June 23 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm with a service at the funeral home immediately following at 4:00 pm with the Rev. Mark Dill. In lieu of flowers, Memorial Donations can be made to the Allegany County Animal Shelter, 716 Furnace St, Cumberland, MD 21502.