Claire Alma (STRANG) Hughes, age 93, died on Dec. 26, 2019, in Lawrence, Kansas. Born in Duluth, Minnesota, the second of four children, Claire had a love of music at an early age, playing the violin and piano.
A graduate of Duluth Central High, Claire was fascinated by stories of microbe hunters and she focused her college studies on bacteriology and microbiology. After obtaining her degree from Antioch College in Ohio, a fellowship with Purdue University led a masters’ degree in microbiology in 1950. While at Purdue, Claire met her husband, Charles A. Hughes, a World War II Air Force veteran and aerospace engineering student from Evansville, Indiana. They married in September 1950 and resided in Brownsburg, Indiana until 1958, relocating to Overland Park, Kansas. Claire later attended the University of Kansas to obtain a degree in Medical Technology and worked many years in Kansas City and Wichita.
Claire and Charles enjoyed outdoor activities and many retirement years together at a home they built on Truman Lake.
Claire was preceded in death by Charles, her loving husband of 48 years. In 2006 Claire relocated to Lake of the Ozarks, finding great happiness and making many dear friends.
A major illness led to a move to an assisted living facility located in Lawrence, Kansas. Claire is survived by two sons, Charles and his wife Moira (deceased) (Thousand Oaks, CA), and Paul and his wife Pam (Shell Nob, MO); four daughters, Alma Heckler and her husband Robert (Lecompton, KS), Emelia Kelley and her husband Joe (Lees Summit, MO), Cynthia Hughes-Coons and her husband Dean Coons (Camdenton, MO), and Valerie Lawless and her husband Patrick (Raytown, MO); thirteen grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 2-4 pm, Thursday, January 2, 2020 at Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home, 601 Indiana Street, Lawrence, Kansas and with services and burial at the historic Saint Patrick’s Cemetery, also known as the Little Cathedral of the Ozarks in Laurie, Missouri.
Funeral services for Claire will be 11 am, Saturday January 11, 2020, at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Laurie, MO. Burial will follow at Old St. Patrick Cemetery.
