Maurine Eloise (Marx) Hughes

Hamilton - Maurine Eloise Hughes passed away on Tuesday, January 24, 2017 at Beehive Homes in Hamilton with her family at her side as she returned to the loving arms of her Heavenly Father.  Maurine was born in Hamilton, Montana on May 27, 1920.  Her parents, Ed and Barbara Marx, welcomed the cute little girl to their family of five boys.  It was into this family of boys that Maurine learned to love sports and all the activity that came with playing with her adoring brothers.  They loved their little sister and were lasting friends with many cards, letters, and phone calls exchanged between the siblings throughout their lives.  Maurine had a great love of sports and often told stories of playing every sport with all the neighborhood boys, frequently being the only girl on the teams.  She played basketball and tennis in high school, and her Hamilton High School girls basketball team took the district title her junior year.

Maurine married Lyndahl Eugene "Gene" Hughes on June 3, 1939.  They were later sealed "for time and all eternity" in the Idaho Falls Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in 1963.  Gene was the love of her life; they enjoyed a beautiful marriage as they raised and cared for their children.  Maurine loved being a "homemaker" and mother.  She was an extraordinary mother and had her first child (Diane) in 1940 and her last child (Ronald) in 1970.  Gene and Maurine were blessed with six children during their marriage. She spent most of her adult life raising her family (children & grandchildren) and loved the challenge and satisfaction that her posterity brought to her.  She always said her children and grandchildren were her greatest blessing in life.  The family enjoyed many trips to the sapphire mines, near Phillipsburg, and spent many summer days at the cabin, with fishing and hunting for sapphires a cherished memory.  Her husband Gene died in a tragic accident in 1980, but she always reminded her children of the wonderful father and husband he was; we knew they had an eternal love.

Maurine was a life-long member of the LDS Church.  She would often tell stories of her early youth when her father and mother would gather their family to attend church; quite often, the LDS church services were in their own home since only a few members of the "Mormon Church" lived in the valley at that time.  She loved the Sunday school stories of Jesus and would often gather her family around to repeat the "stories of Jesus."  Mother loved working with the youth of the church and her life was enriched with the many years of service to the children and young women of the LDS Church in Hamilton.  During her later years in life, Maurine spent 12 years working in the Church's Spanish Genealogy Program where she learned to read Spanish and grew to love the Spanish people.

Maurine's favorite pastime was watching her children and grandchildren play in the great arena of sports.  Maurine was a fixture at all the Hamilton Bronc sporting events, as she loved her Hamilton Broncs!  She also loved the Montana Grizzlies football team and one of her highlights in life was attending a Grizzly football game in 2008.  Even in her 96th year she was following the Hamilton Broncs and Grizzly football teams and would watch and listen to every game.

Maurine's home was always viewed as the place to "stop over at" for all the grandkids and other kids in the community.  There was always something good to eat at her house and she loved to hear the kids say "Hi Grammer!" It always brightened her day to have someone stop by and visit.  She had an amazing ability to make each person feel like they were the most important person in the world, and whatever accomplishment you had just achieved, was declared by her to be the "best ever."  She had a unique ability to make you feel special and loved.

Maurine was proceeded in death by her parents, Ed and Barbara Marx; her brothers, Edward, Francis, Don, Bob, and Herman; her husband, Gene Hughes; her son, Ronald; her granddaughter, Moriah Hughes; and great-granddaughter, Merisa Beebe.

Maurine is survived by her daughter Diane Hughes, of Clayton, California; her son Marc (and Tamra) Hughes of Columbia Falls, Montana; her son Dave Hughes of Hamilton; her daughter Julie Hughes, of Salmon, Idaho; and her son Russell (and Sherri) Hughes of Hamilton.  Maurine has 16 grandchildren, 30 great grandchildren (including triplets), and three great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be at the Daly Leach Memorial Chapel on Sunday, January 29th from 3-5 PM.  Funeral services will be held on Monday, January 30, 2017, at 1:00 PM at the Hamilton LDS Church Building at 401 S. 8th Street. Bishop Kelly Hudson of the Blodgett Canyon Ward will be officiating at the services.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation be made to the “Moriah Hughes Scholarship Fund.” This scholarship goes to a track and cross-country athlete from the Hamilton High School. Donations should be made payable to Friends of the Hamilton Schools Foundation (FHSF), with "Moriah Hughes Scholarship Fund" in the memo line. Donations can be mailed to: FHSF, P.O. Box 1514, Hamilton, MT 59840.