Kelli-Jo Fitzgibbons Hughes

Kelli-Jo Fitzgibbons Hughes, longtime Lakewood, Colorado resident, passed peacefully in her sleep at home on May 1, 2024.  She was 61 years young and had battled cancer for two years.  Kelli was born on May 25, 1962 to James and Bridget Fitzgibbons while James was on active military duty in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Her hometown was Ilion, New York where she spent all the years of her childhood and schooling.  At age 18, she went on an adventure to Colorado with some of her best friends and made that her home.  In 1989, she met her soon-to-be husband, Tom Hughes.  They were married in 1991 and built a wonderful life together, raising two children in their starter home that they still lived in until the day she left us. 

Kelli was the model of loving and giving in all she did.  She was team mom for every baseball, football, and volleyball team throughout the kids’ lives, as well as a dance mom in Scottish Highland dancing, and a regular fixture at every Scottish and Irish festival in the region for many years as a member of Clan McDonald.  An avid traveler, camper and adventurer, Kelli touched so many lives in so many ways.  She will be dearly missed by countless friends and family.   

She is survived by her husband, Tom of Lakewood, Colorado and their children Jackson, 27 of Jackson, Tennessee and Julianna, 26 of Breckenridge, Colorado.  Jackson and his wife, Kat are the parents of Kelli’s three grandchildren, Zane, 3, Milli-Jo, 18 months, and Jett, 4 weeks.  She is also survived by her mother, Bridget Snyder (Peter) of Ilion, New York, brothers Scott (Lisa) and Corey (Kathleen), both in New York, and was predeceased by her father James “Bud” Fitzgibbons.