Obituary of Neil Trevor Hughes

December 4, 1953 - Edmonton, Alberta

October 14, 2024 - Calgary, Alberta

The Hughes/Wood family is devastated to share the news that Neil Trevor Hughes passed away on Monday, October 14, 2024, at the age of 70 after suffering from a stroke.

Neil was born on December 4, 1953, in Edmonton, AB, the third child of Herb and Catherine Hughes. In 1957, his family relocated to Calgary where he spent his childhood and teen years attending Sunalta School and Viscount Bennett High School. He attended the University of Victoria and later the University of Calgary where he met his wife, Madeline. They married in 1985 and had two daughters, Meredith and Anne.

Neil owned and operated his own oil and gas land service company for 20 years and worked at several other oil and gas service companies, but his true passion was being in the weeds of political campaigns and various community organizing committees. He first became interested in community action in high school at Viscount Bennett where he ran for Student Council; this spurred a love for the intricacies of the electoral process, and he became involved in organizing political campaigns for various nominees for nearly 30 years. Despite being asked to run for office himself more times than he could count, Neil preferred to stay in the background, telling others exactly what to do and how to do it (often at length).

Neil was a founding member of CUPS along with his wife, Madeline, and sat on many boards, committees, and special interest groups.

He could be easily spotted at any social event by just looking for the biggest crowd. He naturally attracted an audience as a storyteller, painting vivid pictures in the minds of his listeners, and could capture an entire room with only a couple of sentences.

Neil was intensely curious, a collector of facts both vague and specific, and could generally find just about anything to talk about with just about anyone. His favourite subject though was his family. He gushed frequently about his pride for his daughters, Meredith (Mike) and Anne (Alec), and his most recent and central joy: his granddaughter Gwendolyn - Gwen the Gem.

Neil will be missed by the mountains he spent so much time in over the past few years and his canine buddies, Ziggy and Tenby, who were always happy to go along for the adventure.

The Hughes/Wood family wishes to send a special thank you to Dr. Michael Hill, Dr. Chip Doig, Nikole, Melinda and all the staff and caregivers at the Foothills ICU for their care and compassion of Neil during his time there.

Memorial Services will be held at First Alliance Church (12345 - 40th Street S.E., Calgary, AB) on Monday, October 28, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. Reception to follow in the Church Hall. All are welcome.

If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, 2300 Yonge St, Suite 1200, Box 2414, Toronto, ON M4P 1E4 Telephone: 1-888-473-4636, www.heartandstroke.ca, an organization for which he often volunteered and fundraised.

Condolences, memories, and photos may be shared and viewed with Neil’s family here.

In living memory of Neil Hughes, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes, Park Memorial, 5008 Elbow Drive SW, Calgary, AB T2S 2L5, Telephone: 403-243-8200.

Click Here to view the Memorial Card for Neil Hughes