Bessie Hughes

Bessie Fern Hughes, 88, of Murphysboro, passed away at 2:09 a.m. Monday, September 12, 2016, at Manor Court of Carbondale. Bessie was born on November 8, 1927, in Murphysboro, to Tom Ellis and Maude (Hanson) Ellis. She had worked as a cook for the Jackson County Sheriff's Office and St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in Murphysboro. She was a very good seamstress. She used to sing at area churches and she had sold baked goods at the Farmer's Market. Fern was a very devoted mother and grandmother. Mrs. Hughes was a member of Victory Christian Fellowship in Murphysboro. She married Freeman "Bud" Hughes on June 1, 1946, in Murphysboro, and he preceded her in death on May 30, 1992. Other survivors include three children and their spouses Pam and Dan Boatwright of Carterville, Cynthia and Bert Schmitt of Palatine, IL, and Bill and Virginia Hughes of Kenosha, Wis.; nineteen grandchildren, twenty-two great grandchildren and eleven great great grandchildren; and one brother Jim Ellis of Bloomington, IN. She was preceded in death by two brothers Bob Ellis and Tom Ellis, and four sisters Mary Mileur, Lillian Ruble, Virginia Roseberry, and Geneva Eisenhauer, and her parents. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 16, 2016, at Pettett Funeral Home with Rev. Frank Voorhees officiating and burial at Pleasant Grove Memorial Park. Friends may call from 9 to 11 a.m. Friday at the funeral home. For more information, please visit www.pettettfuneralhome.com. Memorials may be made to the American Heart Association and Hospice of Southern Illinois, Inc.