Woodrow Wilson Hughes, Jr.

A funeral service will be held Friday for Woodrow Wilson Hughes Sr. of the Sheridan community. Mr. Hughes died peacefully at home Monday night surrounded by his family. He was 72 and had battled colon cancer and dementia. “Woody” as he was known by family and friends, grew up on a dairy farm in the Mesa community of Walthall County, MS. The baby son of the late Queen Victoria Laseter and Odie Lee Hughes Sr., he was known for his easy-going manner and love of work. Woody was a gifted athlete lettering in football from the eighth to the twelfth grade at Tylertown High School. He earned a football scholarship to Southwest College in Summit, MS, but returned home following a family illness to keep the dairy in operation with his mother. He described his role on the football field as a “utility man,” playing tackle, center, whatever position was needed most. And, that was his role much of his working life. His career was filled with jobs that were often the most dangerous and difficult in some of the harshest conditions. He worked in a New Orleans shipyard, ran a bag machine at Crown Zellerbach bag factory and later spent 19 years as a roustabout and crane operator on oil rigs all over the Gulf of Mexico. He became known to co-workers as “The Legend” offshore as he was the oldest roustabout in the Gulf having trained, served with and watching out for hundreds of other young oil field workers. After he left the oil field to spend more time with his family he went to work with Washington-St. Tammany Electric Co-op in Franklinton. He worked on a line crew for 10 years. He retired in 2008 from WS-T as the oldest lineman on the job. Those WS-T men were like family to him and he was especially proud of being part of the company’s efforts after Hurricane Katrina. He and those crews logged thousands of hours in those tough months to reset 12,000 utility poles and 4,000 miles of lines to basically rebuild our power grid. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2010, his health failed rapidly, but he has left an incredible legacy of love for his family. His love of the Earth lives on for them to enjoy along with his many animals and beautiful and bountiful citrus orchards and trees. Mr. Hughes leaves to mourn his wife of 51 years, Earline Riley Hughes, who cared for him tirelessly at home over the last months. He is also survived by his children and their spouses, Woody Hughes Jr. of Sheridan, David and Shannon Jenkins of Franklinton and Dr. Gabriel and Shelia Morley of Lake Charles, LA; five grandchildren, Landon and Laiton Jenkins, Kennedy Hughes and Tallulah and Creek Morley; his brother, O.L. Hughes Jr. of Dexter, MS; sisters-in-law, Mary Riley Abbott of Flowery Branch, GA, Irma Hughes of Dexter, and Frances Riley Stanga of Marrero, LA; a brother-in-law, John W. Riley of Franklinton; and several very special nieces, nephews and friends and neighbors. He was also preceded in death by his beloved sister, Ruth Hughes Warner; mother-in-law and father-in-law, Wilda and William Riley Sr.; sister-in-law, Janet Riley Graham; and two brothers-in-law, George Warner and William Riley Jr. Vistation was at Crain Funeral Home in Franklinton Thursday from 5-9 p.m. and continued Friday from 11:30 a.m. until the service at 3:30 p.m. in the funeral home chapel. Bro. Doyle Ball and Tommy Hudnall will officiate. Burial and a graveside service will follow in the Rushing Cemetery near the Hughes family home in Tylertown, MS.

Woodrow Wilson Hughes, Jr.

June 10, 1940 - March 11, 2013

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Woodrow Wilson Hughes, Jr.

June 10, 1940 - March 11, 2013

365 Days of Grief Support

What We Do

Flowers & Gifts

About Us

Resources

Obituaries

Grief & Healing

Contact Information