John "Jay" E. Hughes IV

A funeral service will be held on Thursday, June 30, at 11 a.m. at Parkway Funeral Home in Ridgeland. Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, June 29, and 10-11 a.m. Thursday, June 30 at Parkway Funeral Home.

Jay was a retired journalist. He covered crime, courts, government, politics and other breaking news for the Associated Press at posts including Jackson, Miss; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Peoria, Ill.; and Little Rock, Ark. He also worked for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, the Vicksburg Post and the Columbus Commercial Dispatch. He worked briefly for Y’all Politics.

He covered the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, cold case prosecutions in the deaths of civil rights leaders, serial killers and natural disasters. Breaking news was his forte. He began his career as a police beat reporter in Jackson. He was a skilled interviewer, keen observer and talented writer.

At 6-foot-6, he was a bear of a man, but soft-spoken with an easy laugh.

“He was absolutely larger than life,” said close friend and former colleague Pamela Berry-Johnson of Gulfport. He also was “soft-hearted, nostalgic and very loyal.... We always had this big brother, little sister relationship” although he was only a couple years older. “And he told the best jokes and stories.”

Jay was born Feb. 7, 1970. He grew up in Jackson with deep family ties to the Mississippi Delta. He was a 1988 graduate of Jackson Preparatory School, where he was a standout athlete, playing offensive and defensive tackle for the Patriots. He played football at Mississippi State University before transferring to Mississippi College, where he graduated in 1994. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and served as editor of the student newspaper, the Mississippi Collegian.

He was a lifelong Mississippi State fan. “Hail State” was the masthead on his Facebook page. As a young reporter, he changed jobs to be closer to Starkville to follow younger brother Whit Hughes on the basketball court.

He was equally comfortable in camouflage jacket or white shirt and tie. A chaw of tobacco was usually tucked into his cheek unless the surroundings prohibited it. He was an avid outdoorsman, reveling in the hunt and the telling of his exploits afterwards.

He once described an older mentor as “the epitome of a Southern gentleman” with "perfect old-school manners.” No more apt description might be found for Jay Hughes than the words that he penned to describe the man who taught him.

Twenty-five years after they were high school classmates, he married Paige Boston Hughes on Sept. 25, 2015. In an anniversary post several years later, he referred to the delay as “doing decades of due diligence regarding each other.” She was the love of his life.

In addition to his wife, Jay is survived by his father, John E. “Toby” Hughes III and stepmother Katie Hughes of Jackson; brother Whit Hughes and sister-in-law Shelley Hughes of Madison; and beloved nephews Phillip and Paxton Hughes and niece Presley Hughes, whom he fondly referred to as “Huey, Dewey and Louise.” He was preceded in death by his mother, Diane Hughes.

Pallbearers are Dr. Stephen Rogers, Dave Fulcher, Bryan Buckley, Rick Parker, John Michael Pillow, Whit Hughes, Phillip Hughes and Paxton Hughes. Honorary pallbearers are Dean Doty, Clyde X "Trey" Copeland and Clark Robinson.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jay's memory to Delta Streets Academy by mail to 204 E. Church St. Greenwood, MS 38930 or online at www.deltastreetsacademy.org/give.