Lawrence William Hughes Sr.

On October 8, 2012, Lt. Lawrence W. Hughes, Sr., a Baltimore City Fire Officer with 36 years, five months and three days of service, passed surrounded by his family. He was born into an Irish Catholic family August 21, 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland to the late William and Magdalen Hughes, and was one of six children. He attended St. Anthony’s of Padua, Herring Run Junior High, City College, and graduated from the University of Baltimore with a degree in business. In 1969 while Mr. Hughes was working at an A&P to pay for his college education, he met the love of his life, Doris Elizabeth Dotterweich, who worked at a nearby greeting card store. The two were married in 1972, and celebrated their 40 year anniversary this year. After graduating college and a brief career with Maryland National Bank, he entered the Baltimore City Fire Department on November 11, 1974. During this decorated career as a Baltimore City Firefighter, he received accommodations for rescuing civilians from two separate fires in 1979, the same year their only son, Lawrence W. Hughes, Jr., was born.

His first assignment was Engine 52; he then served on Truck 26, followed by Engine 29, and most recently Engine 51. Mr. Hughes served alongside two of his brothers in the fire department, and was joined by his son in 2004. When Mr. Hughes was not serving the fire department he enjoyed following the Orioles, Ravens, and driving his fire engine red 2005 Chevy Corvette, that was a gift from his wife for his 60th birthday.

Mr. Hughes was the devoted husband of Doris Elizabeth Hughes, loving father of Lawrence W. Hughes, Jr. and his wife Juliane, brother of Patricia Jenkins and her husband Earl “Bill,” Francis Hughes and his wife Katherine, Jeanne Barzyk and her husband Sigmund “Jerry,” William Hughes and his wife Celeste, and Gerald Hughes. Mr. Hughes is also survived by sisters-in-law Lucille Rice and Georgann Tarr and many nieces, nephews and friends.

Family and friends will honor Larry’s life at the Schimunek Funeral Home of Bel Air, Inc., 610 W. MacPhail Road, Bel Air, Maryland 21014 (at Rt. 24), on Thursday, October 11, 2012, and Friday, October 12, 2012 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church on Saturday, October 13, 2012, beginning at 8:30 AM. Interment at Highview Memorial Gardens with Fire Department honors. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Metropolitan Firefighters Burn Center Fund, P. O. Box 480, Pasadena, Maryland 21123, or the American Cancer Sociey, P. O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City, OK 73123. Memorial tributes may be sent to the family at www.SchimunekFuneralHomes.com