See the Trees, How Big They've Grown

His Obit:

Cleo Hughes died at the age of 85 in Water Valley, Mississippi on July 31, 2006. His funeral was held at 10:30, Thursday August 3, 2006 at the First Baptist Church in Water Valley, with a military funeral at Oak Hill Cemetery in Water Valley. Affectionately known as Mr. Cleo around town, he was a member of the "Flying Tigers" during World War II. He was born a twin ( Cleo & Theo) and raised in Water Valley. He was a principal of Westwood Elementary School and retired from teaching in 1982. He returned to Water Valley, built a new home and began his new life as a helper and a friend to all. Mr. Cleo was always helping others, loved by everyone and he will be greatly missed.

Mr. Hughes was a HUGE man. And he did look just like his pictures, and the last one of him smiling is a rare shot. A big influence in my life. In November of 1967 I moved to Memphis from Chicago. I did not speak the language. And the language was a meaner one than Chicago. The male teachers walked around with paddles, and if you did not answer correctly or were not "in-line" you got a whoopin. I met Mr. Hughes for the first time in the hall. Not recognising me (and he knew all the students) he said Come 'heeya boy. I did not understand the command which was repeated several times before he walked up to me, bent me over and swatted me good. This happened several times the first week I was in this new school before some boy said to me "man, when asked to come see him, why don't you go see him?" I did not know that "come heeya boy" was "come here boy".

After our miscue in communication, Mr. Hughes took a shining to me, talked with me often and seemed to know more about me than anyone else. Perhaps he knew my loneliness and my trouble fitting in. Anyway he asked me to work on the school over several weekends with other boys he recruited. We planted trees and cleaned the place up. He would often come talk to me early in the morning as I sat alone in the cafeteria, doing homework and waiting for school to start. I got to school each day an hour early because my brother and the other Coast Guard kids were in high school which started earlier, and I guess I was not worth a special trip.

I wished I had known he was a member of the Flying Tigers. They were my favorite story from WW II.

Here are those trees today. When we planted them they were saplings.