Ronan Hall of Fame Profile: Gary Hughes
Gary Hughes
Gary Hughes will be inducted into the School District #30/Ronan Hall of Fame in February as a “Distinguished Alumni.”
In the final edition of the Ronan High School Pow Wow newspaper in the spring of 1960 the following was written as an after-graduation prophecy for Hughes: “owns a 50,000 acre purebred Arabian horse ranch in Kentucky.” Fortunatel, for the University of Montana and the city of Missoula that prophecy never was fulfilled.
Hughes came to Ronan as a high school sophomore after doing his earlier schooling in Polson. The family operated a farm about three miles west of Ronan, now on Hughes Road, named after his family who had moved there in 1935. Too small to compete in athletics, Hughes chose to become involved in the student newspaper, Pep Club and Thespians. Popular with classmates, he was voted the senior with the “Best Personality” and “Most Cheerful.”
Hughes began his post-graduation career by attending Modern Business College in Missoula. He eventually joined the Grizzly Athletic staff in 1966 as ticket manager, game program manager, and bookkeeper for the Century Club. That position was the beginning of a decade’s long association and service to the uUniversity and the community of Missoula.
A writeup chronicling Hughes’s influence on both stated the following: “Through his 35-year career at the University of Montana, his 17-year career as a public relations officer at First Security Bank in Missoula, and the combined decades he’s spent volunteering for various charities and events around the state of Montana, it’s a fair estimate to say Hughes has touched millions of lives.”
Hughes certainly meets the criteria for induction into the Hall of Fame, easily meeting the following criteria: “The candidate has made an extraordinary contribution to society, and is one who excels, or excelled, in their chosen field after graduation.”
In 2021 Hughes was inducted into the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame and received the Grizzly Lifetime Honors Award, becoming only the third-ever recipient of that award.
He continues to reside in Missoula with his wife Judy.