Webster Tim Hughes Jr.'s Obituary
Webster Tim Hughes, Jr. of Dallas, TX died peacefully at the age of 93 on May 19, 2015. Tim was born in Leesville, LA on June 10, 1921. He was the oldest son of 7 children by Gertrude Forest Greene and Webster Tim, Sr. Dreaming of the Navy since age 12 he joined on December 5, 1939 to see the world. Having joined before World War II began he was in it from beginning to the end. He spent his first Christmas away from home in Honolulu months prior to the attack. There he learned to tell direction by the stars. He then traveled to Iceland where he learned to appreciate fresh vegetables and saw his first German submarine action. He was there when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Tim was on the U.S.S. Idaho Tasker H. Bliss when it was attacked by torpedoes off the coast of Morocco. Floating in the water off Casablanca, he was picked up several hours after abandoning ship. He was reassigned to the U.S.S. Bataan when the President of the Philippines christened it a revenge ship. He was then stationed in the Pacific theater seeing a lot of island fighting until the end of the war. He was trained for and injured on a L.S.T.-395, spending 7 years in the Navy. He recuperated in Manila, in the Philippines. Tim always said God lead taught him to use his brain not his brawn. Through the encouragement of the love of his life, Mary P Hughes he took advantage of the G.I. Bill and went to college. Tim acquired an undergraduate degree in history, in Arkansas, a Masters degree from George Peabody Teacher’s College at Vanderbilt, then continued on to post-graduate work in political science from East Texas State University. Beloved teacher in the Dallas Independent school district for 14 years, he was designated Teacher of the Year in 1971 at Bryan Adams High School. Tim taught history and political science at Eastfield College. He was a charter staff instructor for 21 years. He was a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship award, travelling to Mexico to teach Latin American history in 1965. Tim also traveled to Venezuela and went through the Panama Canal three times. Tim had the pleasure of teaching a college level class on the Bible, focusing specifically on the Middle East, at Lakeside Baptist Church for 45 years. He said, “I’m very, very proud of all that.”He was being honored at the U.S. Navy Grand Marshall 2015 Dallas Veterans Day Parade. He is preceded in death by his cherished wife of 54 years, Mary Ada Pickens Hughes. He is survived by his four younger siblings; only daughter, Mary Lynn Swayze; son-in-law, Robert “Skipp” Swayze, and their three daughters, Mary Ann Hunter, Cassie Swayze, and Lorien Swayze, he was their beloved ‘papa’; step-daughter, Virginia Duke and her daughters, Stacey, Ashley, and Anna, and their families. The funeral service for Tim will be at 3:00 PM on Sunday, May 24, 2015 in The Wildwood Chapel at Restland Funeral Home, with visitation one hour prior. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75238 at Restland Road.
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