Caroline Dee Hughes

June 17, 1962 – March 20, 2017

Our “ray of light” entered this world in 1962 on Fathers’ Day in Bakersfield, CA. She attended and graduated from Highland High School in Bakersfield, and attended dental assistant’s school in Visalia, CA. At that point she worked for a local dentist for one year before being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

She lost her mother when Caroline was 17. They had a wonderful mother-daughter relationship. She was diagnosed with MS at age 19, and was completely bedfast at 25 years of age, and unable to speak around age 30. She was 54 when she lost her battle with this dreaded disease after numerous trips to ICU though these last years. She made many lifelong, loyal friends that stayed in her life all though her many years of battling MS. To know our Caroline, and her light emitting smile, was to love her.

She was unable to move anything but her eyes and was non-verbal her last 24 years, but she spoke so very eloquently with her eyes and her smile. They lit the room when you entered her room at Lifehouse Parkview where she resided for 26 years. Caroline had no real idea of the many lives she touched through her years and physical ordeals. So many nurses, CNA’s, doctors, maintenance employees, etc. know and remember “sweet Caroline” and they have made sure her family is aware of their love and respect for her through the years.

She is survived by her father, Wiley D. Hughes, her aunt, Rhelda Hughes, her uncle Richard Harger (wife Gail), brother William Scott Hughes (wife Maria), and sister Dena Wissink (husband Ryan) as well as lifelong high school friends Denise Short (husband Michael), Shelley Balzer (husband Ron), and Jessica Zepeda (husband Jeremy) and their children Destyni and Matthew,

Also, lifelong friends Peggy and Joe Rose, Jim and Anita Mansfield, and so many others (incl. her Friday Party Group), (“sister”) Delores “Dee Dee” Foster and all the caretakers who so lovingly cared for her through these many years

She was preceded in death by her mother Gloria Jean Hughes, Grandparents Bill and Ila Hughes, grandparents Henry and Lois Harger, and sweet Aunt Mildred “Babs” Hughes.

Services are scheduled for 2:00PM Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at Hillcrest Mortuary, with a reception to follow at the Northeast Christian Church, 4201 University Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93306

A viewing is scheduled for Monday evening at Hillcrest Mortuary between the hours of 4:00PM and 8:00PM.

Caroline’s Father Wiley and the rest of the family would like to thank everyone at Parkview for the loving care they gave Caroline for the last 26 years. He would also like to thank all individuals, hospitals and other care facilities that have helped care for her over the years.

In lieu of flowers, donations would be welcomed in Caroline’s name to:

the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Donate)

or North American Border Terrier Welfare, Cindy Peebles, Treasurer, 822 George Street, Lynchburg, VA 24502

Northeast Christian Church

4201 University Ave

Bakersfield, California 93306