Emily Hughes

Emily Bush Hughes, 74, passed away Sunday, June 19, 2011, in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

She was born Sept. 2, 1936, to the late Charles M. and Mary Hunt Plummer Bush in Bogalusa, La.

A reporter for the Mississippi Press in the early 1960s, Emily later moved to Cape Girardeau where she was a columnist (occasionally syndicated) and women's editor of the Southeast Missourian newspaper until 1969.

In later years she worked for the postal service in Tennessee and Kentucky. However, no job could hold her interest like politics, and when she wasn't penning letters to politicians, she was researching conspiracy theories. A high point in her political life was attending the inaugural ball and swearing in of Ronald Reagan.

Emily is survived by two siblings, Mary Bush Wall (Charles) of Brandon, Miss., Alan L. Bush of Pascagoula, Miss.; two children, David A. Hughes of Oak Ridge, Tenn., Mary Hunt "Missy" Hughes of Oxnard, Calif; six grandchildren, Elisabeth "Lissa" Zentz of Nashville, Tenn., Mary VanWeelden of Santa Clara, Calif., Laura VanWeelden of Tigard, Ore., Emily C. Hughes of Fremont, Calif., Paul Hughes and David Bashir Hughes of Oak Ridge, Tenn; and two great-grandchildren, Jaylen and Jackson Zentz.

A private, family memorial was held in Mississippi.

In lieu of flowers, contributions are appreciated to the Don Lee Keith Journalism Scholarship at Northeast Mississippi Community College. www.nemcc.edu/.