Sister Margaret Hughes, IHM, died Feb. 11, 2021, at IHM Senior Living Community on the IHM Motherhouse campus. She was 80 years old.
Margaret Mary Hughes was born Aug. 3, 1940, in Detroit, one of five children born to Paul and Mary (O’Mara) Hughes. She attended elementary school at Assumption Grotto and high school at Girls’ Catholic Central, Detroit. Margaret entered the congregation, Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in September 1958, receiving the religious name Sister Kevin Mary.
Sister Margaret earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Marygrove College, Detroit. She later continued studies at Mercy College, Detroit, in bilingual education and teaching methods for working with Spanish-speaking children and adults. She also earned a certification in Correctional Science from Marygrove in preparation for a change in ministry.
Ministry came in many forms for Sister Margaret, beginning with teaching children at St. Joseph, Erie; St. Matthew, Holy Trinity and Holy Redeemer, Detroit; and St. Stephen, Port Huron. She then spent five years serving as a pastoral minister at Comayagua and La Paz, Honduras. In 2000, Sister Margaret embarked on a new, much-loved ministry as a legal advocate in the Detroit Police Department, based at the 4th Precinct, helping survivors of domestic abuse. She was awarded the Star of Detroit in 2012, the only non-police officer to receive the honor. She retired in 2013 due to health issues. While living more than 35 years in the Corktown area of Detroit, she often participated in neighborhood meetings and projects, delivered food to needy families and rescue missions and ministered to prison inmates.
With her health declining, Sister Margaret moved to IHM Senior Living Community Health Care Center in February 2020.
Sister Margaret is survived by brothers Patrick (Bernadette) and Francis (Marlene) Hughes; and sisters Julianna and Paula Hughes; many nieces and nephews; and her IHM Sisters in community. Read her Remembering here.