Thomas Leon Hughes

THOMAS LEON “PEANUT” HUGHES Funeral services for lifelong Cortez resident Thomas Leon “Peanut” Hughes will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, August 20 at the Lewis Arriola Community Center. Interment will follow at the Arriola Cemetery. Bishop Dave Mortensen will officiate. Tom was born on September 30, 1931 in Friona, Tex. the son of William Arthur and Gladys Annie (Stanley) Hughes. He passed away on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at his residence at the age of 75. On February 14, 1951, Tom married Margaret Joan Wilbur in Aztec, N.M. To this union seven children were born. Tom joined the United States Navy on February 5, 1952, he devoted eight years of his life to the military. Tom served during the Korean Conflict and held the positions of Gunner’s Mate, Cook and Third Class Petty Officer on the U.S.S. Iowa. He retired from Pool Well Service after many years of hard work. Tom loved the mountains, hunting and fishing. His joy in life was pestering his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and any other kids he could find. He loved his extended family and spending time with them. Tom also got great joy out of farming and his cattle. Surviving Tom are his loving wife of 56 years, Margaret Hughes of Cortez; and his children, William Hughes and wife, Janis of Fort Worth, Tex., Tom Hughes Jr. and wife, Leita of Cortez, Kathy Wilkerson and husband, Larry of Cortez, Gene Hughes and wife, Karen of Thompson, Minn., Donna Boothe and husband, Doug of Bakersfield, Calif., Peggy Sours of San Angelo, Tex., and Charlene Sheets and husband, Rick of Rifle, Colo. He also leaves behind his siblings, Helen Yarbrough of Arriola, Carmen Ives McGill of Clayton, Okla., Mary Richardson of Rock Springs, Wyo., and Bob Hughes of El Reno, Okla.; 19 grandchildren; five step-grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; eight step-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. Tom was preceded in death by his parents; his sisters, Patsy Miller, and Louise Leigh Perkins; an infant sister and brother; and his grandson, Christopher Hughes. Tom was a loving husband, father, grandfather and friend.