Daniel Clyde Hughes Jr.

Born on April 30, 1943 in Macon, Mississippi, Dan was the son of the late Daniel Clyde and Mabel Klaus Hughes. Dan had an idyllic childhood and youth growing up in a small town, playing sports, especially football, and hunting in the woods of Noxubee County. He was active in the Boy Scouts, which fostered his great love of the outdoors, and he became an Eagle Scout. One of the joys of his life was seeing his son and four grandsons become Eagles, also.

Dan was an outstanding student and athlete at Macon High School from which he graduated in 1961. He was voted Mr. Macon High School and made All Choctaw Conference for two years in football. He attended Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama his freshman year of college and was on the football team there. The next three years of college were spent at Ole Miss, from which he graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Business Administration. At Ole Miss, he was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, honorary scholastic fraternity, Beta Gamma Sigma, Delta Sigma Phi, and Beta Alpha Psi, honorary fraternities. He received the Haskins and Sells Foundation Award for excellence in accounting and finished at the top of his class. Like his father before him, Dan was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity and remained active in the chapter as an alumnus the rest of his life. He was instrumental in fund raising for the recent rebuilding of the Sigma Chi House. To honor his parents who were both Ole Miss graduates, Dan created and endowed the Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Clyde Hughes Scholarship Fund to assist deserving students.

Dan began his business career in Jackson, MS in 1965 with the accounting firm of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Company and soon became a CPA. He then held a number of financial positions in other companies including School Pictures, Inc., Intersystems, Inc. where he was CFO and Director, and J. Milton Newton, Inc. as president. Having his own business became a reality when he bought Hughes Equipment Company. After selling that business, he focused on asset management, securities, and developing real estate, and he was a principal and stockholder at Investek Capital Management. In property development, Dan was president and owner of Gulf South Trading Company, Palisades Corporation, Bellegrove Development Company, and Hughes Farms, Inc. Palisades was the last available waterfront residential property at the Ross Barnett Reservoir, and he built a home there on the water where he lived for many years.

As an outdoorsman and hunter, Dan became involved with a number of conservation and wildlife organizations. He was on the board of trustees of The North American Wildlife Foundation, charter member and Chairman of the Delta Waterfowl Federation, Director of the Mississippi Wildlife Federation, Director of the Delta Land Trust Association, and on the Governor’s Advisory Committee for Yazoo-Mississippi Basin. He owned and developed farms, timberland, and hunting properties for the benefit of wildlife and conserving their habitats. He also traveled all over the United States, Canada, and South America to hunt, and displayed his prowess as a marksman in sport shooting.

The other outdoor passion of Dan’s was golf which he started playing as a young man. He was a member of the Country Club of Jackson and a founding member of Annandale Golf Club. He traveled widely around the country playing at premier golf courses.

Dan was Director of the Magnolia Speech School for Hearing and Speech Impaired Children, and Director of the Capital City Petroleum Club. He was Director of the University of Mississipi Alumni Association and past-president of the University of Mississippi Business School Alumni Association, and on the Ole Miss Business Advisory Board. He was a member of Christ United Methodist Church.

Dan will be greatly missed by his family and friends. He could light up a room with his charm and charisma and met every endeavor and challenge with strong determination and perserverance. Dan loved the Ole Miss Rebels and spent many happy weekends in the Grove, rarely missing a home game.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Clyde and Mabel Hughes and his beloved dog, Rebel. He is survived by his four children: Carrie Hughes, Christy McHenry (David), and their mother Barbara Hughes, all of Jackson; Daniel C. Hughes, III of Oxford, and Catherine Hughes of Nashville, and their mother, Sarah Hughes, of Ridgeland; by four grandsons, Hughes, William, Harry, and Christopher McHenry, and by his dog, Jeb. He is also survived by his sister, Julianne Hughes Summerford (Jerry), and several nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and nephews.

A memorial service for Dan will be held at Christ United Methodist Church in Jackson on Wednesday, March 16 at 2:00 PM. Visitation will be held at the church prior to the service from 1:00-2:00. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Delta Waterfowl Federation, 1412 Basin Ave., Bismarck ND 58504, or to the Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Clyde Hughes Scholarship Endowment, University of Mississippi Foundation, 406 University Avenue, Oxford, MS 38655. The family would like to thank the numerous physicians and staff at St. Dominic’s Hospital who so compassionately cared for Dan.