Jackie Hughes, a woman with a remarkable gift for bringing people together, has died aged 88. Endlessly curious about others, she believed the richest life was one filled with family, friendship, shared meals and adventure.
Early life and career
Born in Msida, Malta, Jackie was the daughter of Daisy (nee Holloway) and Jack Morris, a naval tailor. During the second world war, when she was two, Jackie and her sister, Fay, were brought to the UK by their mother, while her father remained in Malta; he was unable to join them for a further six years. Thereafter she grew up in Chatham, Kent, surrounded by a close extended family.
After leaving Christchurch secondary girls school, Jackie worked for the Co-operative department store in Chatham – on the gloves, scarves and stockings counter. Later she moved on to work in the Co-op chemist's shop in Luton Road before rising to be manager of the town's other Co-op pharmacy, in Railway Street.
Marriage and family
On New Year's Eve 1956, at a dance at Chatham town hall, she met Ron Hughes, an engineer in the merchant navy. Although she was a jiver and he was a ballroom dancer, they made an accommodation and got married in 1959, Jackie switching to become a full-time mother to their two children, Matthew and her daughter, the author of this obituary.
Ron eventually left the merchant navy for a job with the Ministry of Public Building and Works as an engineer on RAF airfield installations. That work took them to live in Libya, and then, after a further job shift for Ron, to Germany, where he worked for Siemens as a technical translator.
Life abroad and retirement
Later, in retirement, Jackie and Ron lived for 15 years in Moraira, on the Spanish coast north-east of Alicante, before returning to Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, in 2018.
Wherever she was, Jackie always immersed herself in local culture. Whether learning from neighbours, discovering new food and traditions, or exploring the countryside and towns around her, she embraced every experience with a wholehearted “give it a go” spirit. If music drifted into a village square, she would be the first to dance, simply because it brought her joy.
Passion for food and connection
Food was another passion. Around her table, family and friends found laughter, conversation and a sense of belonging. She always remembered names, asked thoughtful questions and made people feel special. Years after leaving Moraira, cafe owners and shopkeepers still welcomed her back as though she had never been away.
Final years and legacy
Jackie cared devotedly, and with quiet strength, for Ron through 30 years of ill health in his later life. He died in 2023; she is survived by their children and a granddaughter, Elysa.
