Rick Hughes

[S. Hughes]

I didn't realize this forum had a fallen section, so sorry for the delay.

My Dad, Rick Hughes, passed away 25 June 2006. Excepting some small stuff during High School and College, he spent his entire life working for DoE-ORO. He started in Plant Protection at K25 in the 70's when it was still the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

K25 was some of the best times of his life. I was very little then, but I remember him and the operators and firefighters used to fish at the plant, chase deer at night, and bring food in to eat as a shift.

Dad then moved up to Shift Captain over Fire and Guard, then over to Emergency Preparedness, then out to Y12. He missed The Plant, and thought it was funny they got rid of all the people who actually knew where everything was.

It was around this time that Dad did some teaching for Afftrex while they were here.

At Y12, Dad did several things, winding up in training in the EUO division/department/whatever. Dad loved to teach, and help people. He rarely ever ever missed a day of work, and that's how we knew how sick he was getting.

Dad died of complications from esophageal cancer. We all thought he had beaten it, but then it came back. At the end, he couldn't swallow anything.

Up until the week he died, he was still planning what he needed to do when he got back.

Like the Eagles club, the nuclear industry was his life, and there was a lot of you at the funeral. I'm not sure if I got the chance to thank all of you, but in case I was spacing, thanks for being a part of my Dad's life.

-Shawn