Virginie Sandra Goodman Hughes
- – 8/26/1921 – 4/08/2019 Mrs. Thomas P. Hughes (Virginie) died in Payson at age 97 Sunday night after suffering a stroke several days before. There was always something purposeful and unique about Virginie, not unlike the strange spelling of her given name which she changed while she was in high school. She had been a resident of Arizona since moving here from New York in the mid-1930’s with her parents Henry and Grace, and her brother, Henry, who at age 91 still lives in Phoenix. Virginie had a privileged life as a child in Scarsdale, New York, but she felt all of that had changed when, at age 14, the family moved to Arizona for her Father’s health.
The move turned out to be fortuitous when, at age 21, she married Tom Hughes, part of a long-time ranching family in Arizona since the early 1900’s, and started the next chapter of her amazing life. Virginie was in nurse’s training when her husband went overseas to fight in World War II, and she gave birth to her first child, Tom, Jr. in 1944. When Tom returned from the war with 2 purple hearts and 2 bronze stars, they made their home at his father’s ranch in Sunflower, living in primitive conditions, best recalled by her then young children in an incident in which they remembered their mother, after dark one night, looking for a flashlight so that Tom could take care of a rattlesnake that was threatening outside the house. Virginie cooked for the men on roundup and hand-washed her children’s diapers. By the time their oldest child reached age 6, they built a home in Phoenix so that the children could go to St. Francis Elementary School, then Brophy and Xavier High Schools. In 1953, Tom and Virginie acquired their own ranch fifteen miles south of Payson, which meant that during each school year while Tom was working the ranch, for six days a week Virginie managed the home and growing children in Phoenix. During the summers, Virginie moved the household to the ranch so the family could work and be together.
Virginie lost Tom, her husband of more than 60 years, in 2005, and her eldest daughter, Barbara Ann, in 1996, but is survived by Tom, Jr. and his wife Doris, Michael and his wife Judy, Tim and his wife Kathleen, Mary and her husband Greg, Patricia, and Susie and her husband Chris. She also enjoyed the gift of nine grandchildren: Bill Hughes, Laura Hughes, Terri Hughes, Lenny Ambelang, Sarah Hawley, Ryan Hughes (dec), Chris Hughes, Matt Treinen, and Kelly Hughes; as well as four great-grandchildren: Peter and Tommy Ambelang and Peyton and Cannon Hawley.
In addition to her hard work and love as she managed her household of seven children, Virginie will always be remembered for her fundamental optimism, in part a gift from her father, and which was always focused on what her husband and her children could do tomorrow to better their lives and the community around them. Virginie took great pride in the fact that each of her seven children earned college degrees and have led lives of productive service to their communities. During her life Virginie supported many Catholic charities, including Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (Our little Brothers and Sisters), an orphanage based in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where she served on the Board of Directors for a number of years.
As Virginie reached her seventies she began to travel, first with her husband, and later her daughters, visiting the Great Wall of China, navigating the Nile River in Egypt, and cruising many of Europe’s great rivers. Virginie is beloved and will be missed, and those who knew her will remember that above all else: She came and she did her duty, and she lived for her children.
A rosary will be said for Virginie at St. Phillips Catholic Church in Payson on Monday, April 22nd, at 10:15 am, followed by a funeral mass at 11:00, followed by a reception in the St. Phillips parish hall. Interment will be in Phoenix at St. Francis Cemetery on Tuesday, April 23rd at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers donations may be made in Virginie’s name to Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos at https://www.nphusa.org/.