Mary Anne Hughes

Mary Anne Hughes May 2, 1933- April 25, 2026Mary Anne Hughes- daughter of Haverstraw, scholar, jurist, and the steady center of a close-knit Rockland family- died on April 25, 2026, at the age of 92. She was a woman who built a remarkable life on her own terms, and who carried the village she came from with her wherever the work took her.

She was born on May 2, 1933, in the Village of Haverstraw, the daughter of Bernard Joseph Hughes Sr. and Charlotte (Uhl) Hughes. Haverstraw shaped her, and she never let go of it. She was a graduate of Haverstraw High School, Class of 1950, where she finished as valedictorian a distinction that surprised no one who knew her, and the first of many in a life defined by intellect, discipline, and quite ambition.

After graduation, Mary Anne began her career at General foods in White Plains, but her mind was always reaching toward something more. She enrolled at Pace University, earned her law degree, and went on to serve as a judge- a path few women of her generation had walked, and one she walked with the same unfussy determination she brough to everything else. Those who appeared before her remember a sharp mind, a fair hand, and a bench presided over with grace.

She was, above all, a Hughes of Haverstraw. The bonds of family and place ran deep in her, and she was devoted to her siblings- her brother Bernards "BJ" Hughes Jr., whom she lost only nine months before her own passing, and her sister Jane, with whom she shared a lifetime of memories. Together, the three of them were the keepers of the family's history, and Mary Anne carried her share of it with characteristics care.

Mary Anne is survived by her sister, Jane (Janey) Dempsey; her sister in-law, Noreen Hughes; her nephew, Bernard (Bernie) Hughes IIII; her nieces Renee Lynch, Coleen Grommisch, Karen Norris, Nancy Martin, and Shannon Dickert; and a wide circle of grandnieces, grandnephews, cousins, and friends who loved her. She was predeceased by her parents, Bernard and Charlotte Hughes: her niece, Jacqueline O' Grady; and her brother, Bernard "BJ" Hughes Jr., who passed in July of 2025.

At Mary Anne's request, services will be private. The family will gather to celebrate her life in the way she would have wanted quietly, and among those who knew her best. Arrangements are under the care of T.J. McGowan Sons Funeral Home in Garnerville.