William “Butch” Hughes, Jr.
William Hughes, Jr. was born on March 12, 1960. He was known to his family and friends as Butch. Butch grew up in South Lancaster County. He was the son of a truck driver, and he later became one too. Many said they guessed it was in his blood. The small truck pin on his truck square was a gift from Butch’s father to his mother.
Butch was the oldest of four children—and the only boy. He was very protective of his mothers and sisters, especially after his father passed away in 1986. He watched out for all of them, calling often no matter where he was—just “checking in” on them.
Being a truck driver, he was away from his family a lot. However, he was never more than a phone call away. If it was a holiday, and he was on the road, he always managed to call home. There are still times when we reach for the phone to call him or tell him something crazy that his nieces or nephews did, or just to chat and catch up. I guess that urge to call will never go away.
Organ donation was not something we ever talked about as a family until Butch’s sudden death on May 15, 2007. In fact, some of us had never even heard of the Gift of Life. As a family, we decided to say, “YES.” We knew the kind of person Butch was. He was always willing to help someone in need however he could. We decided that if someone somewhere could be helped through our tragedy, then we should say yes. We don’t know how many people were helped or how many lives were saved. But we do know that a part of our dear son and brother lives on through someone else. It’s a good feeling to know that, and we know Butch would agree.
Ruth Hughes (mother)
Sharon Keithley (sister)
Stephanie Kauffman (sister)
Bobbi Jo Sensenig (sister)