Rita G. Hughes

Cheshire - Rita G. Hughes, 97, beloved wife, daughter and sister, mother of six, grandmother of five, and aunt of seven, treasured friend to many, dedicated teacher, and spellbinding storyteller, died on Monday, November 25, at her home. 

When time neared to call Rita back home, the good Lord on a dare offered the devil a half-hour's notice, but Old Scratch sullenly skulked away in a smoldering, sulfuric huff and ruefully muttered back over a diabolical shoulder, “Bah, I couldn't catch that soul if I had 30 days or 30 years head start. That's no bet.”

Rita was born July 27, 1927, in Hamden, the daughter of the late Martin and Julia (Kelly) Garvey. She was the wife of the late Thomas H. Hughes Jr. who passed away in 2001. The couple married on Aug. 15, 1953, the birthday of her father and his identical twin brother.

Rita lived a long and full life with many blessings over her 97 years, but not one without its share of sorrows and tragedies. As she reveled in the good times, she persevered through those bad times until happier days returned.

Her unwavering Catholic faith was the pillar that provided stability and strength to her life right up to her last moments, and the lens through which she viewed and understood so much of life. She was a communicant of St. Bridget of Sweden Parish since she and Tom moved to Cheshire in the mid-1950s. St. Bridget's was always a rock in which she found refuge.

Rita was proud of her heritage as the granddaughter of Irish immigrants and the daughter of second-generation Irish-American parents. She and Tom made several trips to Ireland and they delighted whenever Irish cousins and friends visited. She also loved a good cupper of properly steeped Irish tea and, like any fun-loving Irishman and Irishwoman, a good story, a good party, and good craic generally.

After attending Hamden High School, Rita graduated from the New Haven State Teachers College in 1947, where she struck up some lifelong friendships, and then she received a master's degree in early childhood education from Columbia University in 1953, just one of seven women to graduate the advanced degree program. 

Teaching was more than a profession for Rita, it was her life's calling and passion. Her first teaching position was at the old Humiston School in Cheshire in 1948, and then she taught at the Ivy Street School in New Haven from 1949 until 1954, when she took maternity leave. Six children and 14 years later, she returned to teaching part-time in 1968, a few years later became a full-time kindergarten teacher at Highland Elementary School, and retired in 1987.

Rita often remarked how she loved the German origins of the word “kindergarten” because “kinder” means children and “garten” means garden in German. Every school year, she lovingly tended her new garden of children with a nurturing, knowledgeable and firm hand. Over the years, thankful students occasionally invited her to high school or college graduation parties.

Her last day as a teacher was chronicled in a 1987 feature story in The Hartford Courant. “I gave you all a pinch to grow an inch, and now I'll give you a hug because I love ya,” Rita told her last kindergarten class before handing out report cards and giving each child a bear hug and planting a kiss on each cheek. “I've got to tell you something. I love you, and I hope you'll be very happy.” 

A seanchaí as the Irish say, Rita picked up a knack for storytelling from her years of teaching and telling stories to her own children growing up. 

She became known throughout the school system and Cheshire for the stories she and a hand puppet named Lazy Friday with floppy brown ears, a big, black nose, and a wide red mouth told every Friday morning. As the named implied, Friday was, indeed, not only lazy, but also quite somnolent. He slept six days a week in his cardboard house adorned in red and white checked wrapping paper, and only awoke on Fridays to tell stories with his boon companion. “Friday and I are not going away,” she said after telling her last story to 100 children in kindergarten through the second grade on her last day of teaching. “We will be bouncing in and out. I know you want me to come back, which makes it easier for me to leave.”

Before retiring, Rita joined the New Haven-Guilford Story Sharing Group, a forerunner of the Connecticut Storytelling Center, where she further honed her terrific tale telling talents. After retiring from teaching, she became a professional telling stories to school groups, at public libraries, in nursing homes, clubs and elsewhere. 

In a 1995 New York Times profile of the New Haven-Guilford Story Sharing Group, Rita credited the rich interest in storytelling to a desire to keep oral traditions alive and to form closer bonds with others. “I think people are looking for personal contact and storytelling is so direct,” she said. “With the eye contact, each person feels like the story is being told to them.”

Rita came to love the game of football having watched her sons play in high school for about a decade. While the Cheshire High School Rams were always her favorite team, she rooted for the New England Patriots and enjoyed watching a good college game Saturdays, and especially her husband Tom's favorite team, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. She was also a huge fan of the UConn basketball, and she closely followed the UConn women's team.

Rita was always a proud mother and an even prouder grandmother. Her six children and five grandchildren were her greatest joys in life. She is survived by her children Thomas H. Hughes III, Peter Hughes, Paul Hughes, and Mary Hughes, and her grandchildren Ryan Hughes, Margaret Hughes, Erin Hughes and Chelsea Hughes. She was predeceased her husband, Tom, her sons Kevin and Timothy, and her granddaughter Lauren.

Arrangements – Visitation will be on Sunday, December 1, 2024, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Alderson-Ford Funeral Home of Cheshire, 615 S. Main St. Her funeral procession will leave the funeral home on Monday at 9:30 am and proceed to St. Bridget of Sweden Parish – St. Bridget Church, 175 Main St., for a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in St. Bridget Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Friends of the Cheshire Library, 104 Main St., Cheshire, CT 06410 or to the Cheshire Food Pantry, P.O. Box 457, Cheshire, CT 06410.