Blake Hughes Obituary

Blake Hughes CHARLESTON - Blake Hughes, 94, of Charleston, SC, died Thursday, June 11, 2009. A memorial service will be held at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 10:30 a.m. Private Internment will be held in the Churchyard. The family will receive friends following the service in the Church Parish Hall. Mr. Hughes was born June 24, 1914 in New York City, the son of Ferdinand Holme Hughes and Inez deCordova Hughes. Blake graduated from Bronxville High School and Dartmouth College and did his graduate work at Columbia University School of Business and Dartmouth's Tuck School and received a Degre de Civilisation from the Sorbonne in Paris. He also studied at the Art Students League in New York. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Delta Sigma Rho. He served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy from 1940 - 1945 with sea duty in the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific. He received a Commendation by the Secretary of the Navy and was decorated by the Soviet Union with "The Order of the Fatherland War." In 1995 he received the "Order of Glory" from the Russian Government to commemorate the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. Mr. Hughes was Publisher of Architectural Record magazine from 1968 - 1981. He also served as Publisher of House and Home and Housing magazines and Architectural Record Books. He was President of the International Architectural Foundation in NY from 1973-78 and the International Institute for Architecture, Washington, DC 1978-1981. He was a member of the Architectural Critics Committee of the Union International des Architects 1978-1980 and a Trustee of Unity College in Maine 1965-1975. Mr. Hughes was an accomplished artist and published several books of poetry, short stories and a novel. Mr. Hughes was a member of St. Michael's Church, the Carolina Yacht Club, a former President of the Charleston Branch of the English Speaking Union and the Charleston Artist Guild. He was also a member of Alliance Francaise, The Poetry Society of South Carolina, The Gibbes Museum of Art, The Preservation Society of Charleston and the Charleston Library Society. He is survived by his wife Betty J. Hughes of Charleston, SC; daughter, Diane Young (Kent) of Red Lodge, MT; son, Brian Blake Hughes (Cynthia) of Houston, TX; six grandchildren, Matthew, Megan and Tracy Young and Alexandra, Blake and Patrick Hughes. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Michael's Scholarship Fund, 71 Broad Street, Charleston, SC 29401 or to the Confederate Home, 62 Broad Street, Charleston, SC 29401. Arrangements by J. HENRY STUHR, INC., DOWNTOWN CHAPEL.