THOMAS MCHUGH
Thomas F.
McHugh, Sr.
Age 80, of Wilmington, DE, passed away on Friday, August 21, 2009 at Christiana Hospital after a brief illness.
Tom as born at home on Rockford Road in Wilmington on July 1, 1929, the son of James A. and Mary Gail (Keener-McDonough) McHugh. He grew up on Shallcross Avenue in the shadow of St. Ann's School in Forty Acres. He graduated from St. Ann's grade school and from Salesianum School in 1947. Tom also attended the University of Delaware. As a fourteen year old teenager, Tom went to work at the then A&P Supermarket located at Delaware Avenue and Jackson Streets in Wilmington where he met fourteen year old Roberta Jean (Rowe) who also worked at that store. They quickly fell in love, became inseparable and dated from 1943 until they married on May 20, 1951. They enjoyed 56 years of happy marriage until Jean's death on July 22, 2007. From age ten to age eighteen, Tom served as an altar boy at the then Visitation Monastery in Wilmington. When he was ten, he began to serve both the Wilmington Morning News and the Evening Journal. By age twelve he was a pin setter at the old Parkway Bowling Alley. These were the days of the Great Depression. Tom spent forty years at A&P moving through every phase of management and retired as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for A&P's vast Manufacturing empire. At the time, A&P, besides being the largest grocery chain in the world, was also the ninth largest manufacturer of food and non-foods in the world. Tom was drafted into the Army in 1951 and served as a combat infantryman in Korea, being rewarded with the Korean Service Ribbon with a bronze star and the Combat Infantryman's badge.
Besides his wife and parents, Tom was preceded in death by his son, Thomas F., Jr., his brothers, James A., Jr. and William F. and his sister, Doris Bonniwell, and his daughter-in-law, Ruthie. He is survived by his brother, Robert J. and sister, Gail "Sue" Hotchkiss. He is also survived by 4 sons, Robert J. of Boulder, CO, Richard P. and his wife, Sallie of Arlington, VA, Kevin A. and his wife Donna and Daniel J. and his wife Cindy, all of Wilmington. Tom is also survived by his 2 wonderful daughters, Kathleen A. Alexander and her husband Scott and Nancy E. Trent and her husband Robert. He is also survived by 16 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
Friends and family are invited to visitation on Monday, August 24 between 6-8 pm at Mealey Funeral Homes, Limestone and Milltown Roads, Wilmington. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday morning at 11 am at St. John the Beloved Church where friends may visit after 10 am. Interment will be at All Saints Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in memory of Tom's wife and daughter-in-law to the Alzheimer's Association, 240 N. James St. #100A, Newport, DE 19804 or to the Compassionate Care ALS, PO Box 1052, West Falmouth, MA 02574.
www.Mealeyfuneralhomes.com
302-652-5913
[published 08/22/2009]
THOMAS MCHUGH
Thomas F.
McHugh, Sr.
Age 80, of Wilmington, DE, passed away on Friday, August 21, 2009 at Christiana Hospital after a brief illness.
Tom as born at home on Rockford Road in Wilmington on July 1, 1929, the son of James A. and Mary Gail (Keener-McDonough) McHugh. He grew up on Shallcross Avenue in the shadow of St. Ann's School in Forty Acres. He graduated from St. Ann's grade school and from Salesianum School in 1947. Tom also attended the University of Delaware. As a fourteen year old teenager, Tom went to work at the then A&P Supermarket located at Delaware Avenue and Jackson Streets in Wilmington where he met fourteen year old Roberta Jean (Rowe) who also worked at that store. They quickly fell in love, became inseparable and dated from 1943 until they married on May 20, 1951. They enjoyed 56 years of happy marriage until Jean's death on July 22, 2007. From age ten to age eighteen, Tom served as an altar boy at the then Visitation Monastery in Wilmington. When he was ten, he began to serve both the Wilmington Morning News and the Evening Journal. By age twelve he was a pin setter at the old Parkway Bowling Alley. These were the days of the Great Depression. Tom spent forty years at A&P moving through every phase of management and retired as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for A&P's vast Manufacturing empire. At the time, A&P, besides being the largest grocery chain in the world, was also the ninth largest manufacturer of food and non-foods in the world. Tom was drafted into the Army in 1951 and served as a combat infantryman in Korea, being rewarded with the Korean Service Ribbon with a bronze star and the Combat Infantryman's badge.
Besides his wife and parents, Tom was preceded in death by his son, Thomas F., Jr., his brothers, James A., Jr. and William F. and his sister, Doris Bonniwell, and his daughter-in-law, Ruthie. He is survived by his brother, Robert J. and sister, Gail "Sue" Hotchkiss. He is also survived by 4 sons, Robert J. of Boulder, CO, Richard P. and his wife, Sallie of Arlington, VA, Kevin A. and his wife Donna and Daniel J. and his wife Cindy, all of Wilmington. Tom is also survived by his 2 wonderful daughters, Kathleen A. Alexander and her husband Scott and Nancy E. Trent and her husband Robert. He is also survived by 16 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.
Friends and family are invited to visitation on Monday, August 24 between 6-8 pm at Mealey Funeral Homes, Limestone and Milltown Roads, Wilmington. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday morning at 11 am at St. John the Beloved Church where friends may visit after 10 am. Interment will be at All Saints Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in memory of Tom's wife and daughter-in-law to the Alzheimer's Association, 240 N. James St. #100A, Newport, DE 19804 or to the Compassionate Care ALS, PO Box 1052, West Falmouth, MA 02574.
www.Mealeyfuneralhomes.com
302-652-5913
[published 08/22/2009]
Inscription
Beloved Father - Together Forever
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
