Sheryl Elizabeth Hughes

Sheryl Elizabeth “Sherry” Hughes (Thomas) of San Antonio, Texas, passed away peacefully on Monday, May 1st, 2023, at her home. She entered this life on May 25, 1943, in San Antonio, Texas to George Franklin Thomas and Luvenia Thomas (Stewart). Sheryl married her true love, William F. “Toby” Hughes, on September 30, 1961. Together they raised their three sons George, Kenneth, and John.

Sheryl’s true passion in life was her husband and family. In her husband Toby’s own words with regards to her being an Air Force wife:

"She spent endless days being a mother, father, chief financial officer, handy man, teacher, preacher, and policeman. She, like many of her friends, was a warrior in a different kind of war. She endured chicken pox, colic, and temper tantrums. Dealt with bill collectors, neighbors, teachers, in-laws, outlaws, war protestors, salesmen, other wives, other husbands, bank officers, and the IRS. She ran the house and the home, tended her roses, watched the news every night, and worried about me 100 percent of the time. She jumped every time the phone rang; the sound of the doorbell induced brief panic. There was no internet or email and the daily letter from me did not calm her fears. She knew that anything could have happened in the three to four days since it was written. A call on the overseas line on our anniversary, and on her birthday helped, but only a day, after which she would start worrying again.

And looming over it all was the specter of the blue car, every Air Force wife's nightmare. The commander and the chaplain who could drive up the street at any time, any day, with the worst news of all. That she managed it at all is a tribute to the incredible strength of will and character that sustained us, not only then, through the war, but since through all the ups and downs of a life together. The ones who waited at home exhibited a courage and fortitude that those of us at war could not imagine. We faced a single challenge; theirs were countless, and they dealt with them. They sit in the upper room in my personal pantheon of heroes."

Those that preceded her in death are her husband William F. “Toby” Hughes Jr., her parents George F. Thomas and Luvenia Thomas (Stewart), and her brother John F. Thomas.

Her dear loved ones left to cherish her memories are her children; George Hughes and daughter-in-law Lupita Lopez de Hughes; Kenneth Hughes, and daughter-in-law Raheela Somoroo; John Hughes and daughter-in-law Christina Hughes; brother-in-law, Joe Hughes (Sue), Montgomery, TX, and sister-in-law, Mary Beth Fitzgerald, Tyler, TX; seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and several nieces and nephews.

Sheryl will be laid to rest near her beloved Toby. There will be a graveside committal service, on Thursday, May 25, 2023, beginning at 10:30 am at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas.

To honor her memory, remembrances can be sent to Colonial Funeral Home, 625 Kitty Hawk Road, Universal City, Texas 78148, www.colonialuniversal.com.