Charles Booth Hughes passed away on October 8, 2019, at age 87, of complications due to cancer. He was survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary Catherine Hughes, and sons Mark and James, and his wife Rebecca. His son David predeceased him. His grandchildren, Ian, Gabriel and Lea also survive him.
Charles was born in Queens, New York City, and grew up in Charlottesville, VA. He graduated from the Staunton Military Academy in 1950, and proceeded to the University of Virginia, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree, with Honors, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1954, and his Law degree in 1960. He attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. His father passed away suddenly as he entered college, and a fair trombonist in his youth, he worked his way through undergraduate and law school, playing in jazz combos in Virginia and with Cozy Cole’s combo at the Metropole Café in New York City.
Charles served in the U.S. Army from 1955-57. He practiced law in Wichita KS, and was then employed by the Department of Interior in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Charles, Mary and their children lived in Palau and Saipan, while he worked on land and war claims, and as Deputy Attorney General for the Trust Territory. Charles returned to Interior in Washington to work in the Solicitor’s Indian Affairs Division and with the Interior staff installing President Johnson’s new Planning-Programming-Budgeting system. From 1968-71 he worked at Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City on expanding use of systems analysis in community and governmental programs and problem solving.
Charles returned to Washington in 1971 to work at the Office of Management and Budget in the new field coordination unit, and then as Chief of the OMB Intergovernmental Relations Branch. He then took a position at Interior in 1978 to work in Indian Affairs, including as Bureau of Indian Affairs Chief of Finance and in the Solicitor’s Office as Deputy Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs. He served under eight administrations and refused any political appointment, serving each impartially and professionally; the epitome of a career civil servant. He retired in 1993.
In post-retirement, Charles was active in a prison ministry for several years. An avid and focused student of many disciplines, including law, history, philosophy, theology, mathematics and physics, he continued to read and learn until his passing. He was a loving and devoted husband and father, and he will be sorely missed.
Memorial services are planned to be private involving family, friends and neighbors, at a date to be determined. In lieu of any flowers, well-wishers are urged to send donations in his memory to the American Cancer Society.
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