Laird George Hughes was born May 20, 1945 in Joliet, Illinois to George and Janice Hughes. After a short battle with cancer, Laird died March 8, 2025 surrounded by his family. Laird graduated from Joliet High School in 1963. He then joined and proudly served in the United States Air Force for four years. While in the service, he met Rogene. Laird and Rogene married in 1967 in Prague OK and have lived most of their married life in Edmond OK. After his honorable discharge from the Air Force, he attended the University of Central Oklahoma and graduated in 1971. Following college, his career was primarily in the Environmental Field. He worked for the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Rose State College and the City of Midwest City. He was a member of St John's Catholic Church in Edmond for over 40 years, where he served on the Property Board and as an Usher. He and his family were also Greeters for many years. The things that brought Laird the most joy were his family, his animals, photography, traveling and music. He loved spending time with family sharing meals, attending events, seeing new sights and, of course, taking pictures along the way. Laird and Rogene were truly partners and did most things together. One of his favorite hobbies was photography. He almost always had a camera in his hand, long before the iPhone was available. He loved taking pictures of family, the outdoors and really most anything. He passed his love of taking photos on to his daughter, Nicole, as well as his interest in Sci-fi. They enjoyed watching Star Trek and going to Sci-fi conventions together. Nicole and her dad also had fun conversing about anything space related. He enjoyed a variety of music and loved supporting his daughters in their school band programs. He served as Band Booster President and was the unofficial photographer of the group. He also made many good friends during this time. Back in the day, he was also an excellent saxophonist which inspired his daughter, Tiffany, to play sax using Laird's prized saxophone. He was always interested in history and as it applied to today's world. He and daughter, Tiffany, had many discussions regarding Oklahoma and world history. Family genealogy fascinated him and he thoroughly enjoyed researching both sides of the family. Watching football and basketball both in person and on tv was fun for Laird and Rogene to do together. Laird loved all animals, but especially the family cats and dogs. They were his special buddies. He is survived by his wife, Rogene, of 57 years, his daughters, Nicole Lynn and son-in-law, Sean Lynn and Tiffany Hughes. Laird's parents, sister Raychell and brother-in-law Jim Lake preceded him in death. He was a wonderful husband, dad, brother, brother-in-law and uncle, who will be truly missed.
A formal visitation will be held Monday, March 17, 2025, from 5pm to 7pm with family present, at Matthews Funeral Home, Edmond, Oklahoma.
A service will be held Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 11:00am, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Edmond, Oklahoma.
A graveside interment will be March 18, 2025, 3:00pm, at the Prague Catholic Cemetery, Prague, Oklahoma.
To view the live stream of the service please follow this link: https://youtube.com/live/R2neau4t7-0?feature=share