Dr. Robert E. Hughes

Dr. Robert E. Hughes passed away April 17, 2023, age 81. A Mass of a Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 25, at Visitation Catholic Church at 5141 Main Street, Kansas City, MO. Memorial contributions can be made to Rockhurst High School, Rockhurst University, Doctors Without Borders or the Sisters Servants of Mary.

Bob was born November 25, 1941 in Kansas City, MO to Emmett Edward and Berenice Hughes. He attended Visitation Catholic Grade School, Rockhurst High School, Rockhurst University and University of Kansas Medical School. Bob’s Pediatrics residency was at Denver Children’s Hospital, specializing in gastroenterology. He was a Major in the U.S. Army during the Viet Nam War.

Bob first met his devoted wife Kathy at KU Medical Center, where she worked as a staff nurse. They reconnected several years later while jogging at Loose Park with their dogs, and eventually married and had two children, Sarah Marie and Sean Emmett. They lived in an old Brookside house for almost 50 years and would have been married 45 years this September. Bob worked at Pediatric Associates and was on the staff at Saint Luke’s Hospital. He later worked at Allied Signal and most recently with Social Security Administration, performing disability reviews for the federal government. He even worked the day before his hemorrhagic stroke, dying ten days later of complications of aspiration pneumonia.

Bob loved to travel and took his family all over the world. He enjoyed annual trips to New York to see Broadway shows. He was an amazing cook and was known for gourmet Christmas Eve dinners and Christmas parties for friends. He was a season ticket holder at the Lyric Opera, an avid art collector and loved Irish Setters. To keep his mind sharp, he studied Chinese for over 25 years and earned a Bachelor’s of Arts at UMKC with an emphasis in Asian Studies. He valued life-long friendships with classmates from grade school, high school and medical school. His idea of a perfect weekend was Mass, dinner out and a movie on Saturday night and a home cooked family dinner on Sunday, which he often prepared. He had a strong personal faith which guided him throughout his life.

He is survived by his wife, Kathleen, his children, Sarah and Sean, Sean’s wife Elizabeth, and his grandchildren, Evelyn Deborah and Emmett Patterson, his niece and nephews, and a large extended family. The last few years, he suffered many health problems without complaining and while trying to maintain his over-all quality of life. He attributed his longevity to his faith, family and friends, healthy living and the attentive care of many good doctors. He told Kathy his life had been better and longer than he ever imagined it could be and he was ready to go on to his heavenly home. Their first date was at Jimmy’s Jigger, a bar near KUMC, and it felt like their life’s story was complete because, as he was peacefully dying, the Jigger could be seen from his hospital window.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.mcgilleymidtownchapel.com for the Hughes family.