Alice Jane Hill Hughes

Alice Jane Hill Hughes, age 84, of the Beaverdam community of Oglethorpe County, Georgia, passed away at her home on Sunday, December 15, 2024. Born to Dennis Odell Hill and Bernice Wright Hill in Gadsden, Alabama, she was reared in the family homeplace, where she feasted on folklore from her aunt, Florence Wright. Home was 112 Franklin Street, located within the “Magic of West Gadsden,” which also included Eleventh Street Grammar School and Twelfth Street Baptist Church (her great-grandparents and grandmother being founding members with her grandfather being the first baptized member). 

Her greatest gift from her mother was tolerance. Whenever things got tough, Alice remembered her father’s words: “Straighten yourself up, and march right back in there.” 

With her strong work ethic, Alice always seemed to find yet another project. She was a medical research technician prior to becoming a state social worker and day care director. She volunteered at Social Circle City Schools and served as president of the Parent Teacher Organization. Her most fun job was as a showgirl on the Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad, and she enjoyed telling of this experience to an unsuspecting audience.

After earning her degree at Oglethorpe University, Alice sailed to Australia by freighter. She worked as a governess on a sheep and cattle station in the Queensland Outback, then on a cattle station in Tropical North Queensland. While visiting New South Wales, Alice met a property manager, Chris Hughes. They were to marry and manage that cattle property for another year before sailing to the United States, where they settled in Georgia. Living first in the Decatur area (with a sojourn in Hoboken) and followed by a thirty-year residency in Walnut Grove, they retired to Oglethorpe County in 2007. 

Always an avid writer, Alice filled pages with real life stories. Early on, she focused on journalism. She wrote children’s stories, quilt stories, family histories, historical accounts, and celebrity interviews. Alice completed two novels. One chronicles the life of her adventurous mother-in-law; the other is of religion gone wrong. Alice served as assistant editor of the daily newsletter for the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta, living and working in the Athlete Village. Her writing is incorporated into the book, The Triumph of the Human Spirit: The Atlanta Paralympic Experience.

Remembering Aunt Florence’s folktales, Alice connected to Cloud’s Creek Baptist Church in 1995. She spearheaded the application for a historical marker from the Georgia Historical Society. The marker was dedicated in 1999 along with a charter member plaque given by descendants. Alice loved Cloud’s Creek and its people. In 1788 her third and fourth great-grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins had founded the little church. Upon moving to Oglethorpe County, she joined Cloud’s Creek Church. “My family was gone for 173 years, and I came back.” She represented descendants on the stained glass windows committee. The windows were installed in the hundred-year-old sanctuary in 2009. The following year, she delved into the history of Beaverdam Primitive Baptist Church, whose founding connected back to Cloud’s Creek. In later years, she has enjoyed learning the history of Piney Grove Baptist Church, which came out of Cloud’s Creek after the Civil War.

During her years in Oglethorpe County, Alice was to become an officer in Historic Oglethorpe County and thus on the organization’s Board of Trustees. She likewise served on the Oglethorpe County Library Board of Trustees. She served on the committee working on a historical marker application for the Lexington birthplace of Columbia Theological Seminary.

Alice’s strong sense of history, both place and person, drove her endeavors. She worked with The Georgia Historical Society, researching the marker installed at Howard’s Covered Bridge. Hartsfield International Airport would have lost its identifying name had she not campaigned tirelessly for one of her Cloud’s Creek family lines. In February 2023, she was recognized in receiving the Historic Oglethorpe County Annual Award in recognition of her contributions in preserving local history. The Hughes family’s art and devotion to preserving the stories of family and local history were featured in an article from the November 7, 2024 edition of The Oglethorpe Echo.

Her commitment to family and honoring connections served her well: “I have the best friends on the face of the earth.” She celebrated those friendships with an annual Christmas Open House, from 1976 onward.

Alice was preceded in death by her husband, Christopher Maddock Hughes. She is survived by the daughter she loved so dearly, Vyvyan Lorraine Hughes of Atlanta. 

A graveside service will be held Saturday, January 18, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. at Forrest Cemetery, Gadsden, Alabama, with Dr. Duane Embry of Monroe, Georgia, officiating. 

A memorial gathering and a time for storytelling will be held on February 22, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. at Alice's residence located at 1042 Parkview Road, Winterville, GA 30683

Please consider making a memorial donation to Cloud’s Creek Baptist Church (P.O. Box 604, Crawford, Georgia 30630) to be applied to the Pioneer Cemetery Clean-up Fund.

Lord & Stephens Funeral Home, EAST, is in charge of the arrangements.