Mary Hughes

(From Carson-Wall Funeral Home)

Mary Elizabeth Williams Hughes died shortly after the conclusion of the 23rd Katy Days – a festival that she founded in 2000 and remained a key organizer for many more years – on May 29, 2023. 

Although she was born in St. Joseph, Missouri on October 22, 1929 and lived in Sparks, Horton, Seneca and Marysville, Kansas while growing up, she fully embraced her 72 years in Parsons. It was in Parsons that she found lifelong love, raised a family, developed many enduring friendships, and applied her passion and energy as an agent of change.







After graduating from high school in Marysville, she attended Lindenwood College for one year before completing her studies in Secondary Education at the University of Kansas. She was hired by Wallace Guthridge to teach 7th and 8th grade English in Parsons where she met her future husband, William D. ‘Pete’ Hughes. Several of her former students claimed credit for creating a classroom atmosphere in that first year that made Pete’s proposal of marriage a desirable alternative to continued teaching.

Pete and Mary were married on June 14, 1952 in Linneus, Missouri, then home of her parents, Vernon and Mildred Williams, and her brother Bob, and settled back in Parsons for the rest of their lives. 

In Parsons they raised four children – Rees, Megan, Jane, and Griff – and were active in the community. Central in her life in those earlier years were the Presbyterian Church, Chapter BS P.E.O., and the challenges of raising four busy children and all their activities. This was a time when she earned a wonderful reputation as a cook (she facilitated the creation of two family cookbooks) and seamstress.

Once the children were gone, she worked for several years teaching English as a Second Language at Labette Community College. After a trip to Kenya in 1985 to visit her son, she experienced a debilitating case of rheumatoid arthritis caused by her anti-malarial medication. As evidence of her grit and determination and willingness to ‘think outside the box’, she made purposeful lifestyle changes that ultimately resulted in her cure.

She devoted herself for the last three decades of her life to creating a number of community institutions and celebrations. This includes the Presbyterian Oatmeal Festival, Katy Days, Parsons Buying Club, Mistletoe Market Place, Zazu Pitts Film Festival, Alzheimer’s Support Group and Operation Bright Touch (with Donna Seeley). She also played a significant role in programming for the Parsons Senior Center.

During retirement Mary and Pete traveled extensively around the world (Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Ecuador, Kenya, Sicily, Wales, and Western Europe) and the United States, often with Pete’s sister, Janet Carpenter, and her husband, Bob.

Mary was an extravert who, along with Pete, was great at asking questions, entertaining, and welcoming visitors into their home. She was a change agent who saw possibilities, did her homework, and would work tirelessly to make things happen. She was creative and had a wonderful aesthetic sense.

Mary is survived by her four children, eight grandchildren, and one great granddaughter. A special thank you to Megan Hughes and Greg Jarrett, who have provided special support through more recent years, to the caregivers who made it possible for Mary to long remain in the family home, and to the staff of the Presbyterian Manor and Julia Edmonds who provided loving care for her last year.


A celebration of Mary Hughes’s life will be held at 1:30 P.M., Saturday, October 21, 2023 at the First Christian / First Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Operation Bright Touch or to the First Presbyterian Church of Parsons in Mary’s name. Memorials can be left at or mailed to the Carson-Wall Funeral Home, P.O. Box 942, Parsons, KS 67357. Online condolences may be left at www.wallfuneralservices.com.