Mary Ann Hughes of Hampton Bays passed away peacefully on the morning of May 11, 2026 at the age of 81.

Mary Ann was born in Manhattan, NY in 1944 and grew up in Brooklyn. NY - were her future husband of almost 60 years. William (Bill) Hughes, fell in love and predicted he would marry her the first time he saw her sitting on her parents stoop. She graduated in 1965 from the Bellevue and Mills Schools of Nursing,, married in 1966, then she and Bill raised a family and lived in Brooklyn, NY until moving permanently to Hampton Bays, NY after spending many summers there. She was a devout Catholic attending mass regularly at St. Thomas, Aquinas Parish in Brooklyn and then later at St. Rosalie's in Hampton Bays.

She worked as a nurse part-time in the early years of her marriage and then chose to devote herself full-time to her family. However, she kept her nursing license current and put it to good use applying butterfly bandages when various children fell out of bed and split open their chins; reassuring Bill that he did not have whatever exotic disease he had just recently heard about; serving as the unofficial nurse of East. 48th Street. when neighbors needed medical advice and assistance; administering injections for friends, undergoing experimental, cancer treatments; and in many other ways, big and small that we may not even be aware of. She also helped to advance research into women’s health as long-term participant in the Nurses' Health Study conducted at Brigham and Williams Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Mary Ann and Bill successfully launched 6 children into the world while always maintaining a home they could return to for holidays or whenever they needed. She traveled far and wide to support her children and grandchildren, from Oklahoma to Hawaii, Texas, Nevada, California, Florida, Colorado, Boston, Ithaca, Ethiopia, Amherst, Maryland and Washington state.

She had a curious mind, an independent and adventurous spirit, and a wide assortment of hobbies and interests. Her model train hobby occupied and entire room in the house; she took full advantage of living near the ocean by digging for clams and cultivating oysters; she was a theater lover with season ticket subscriptions for many years and regularly took the Hampton Jitney into the city to see shows by herself. And she shared her hobbies and interests with her children and grandchildren - letting them run the trains, taking them, clamming with her, accompanying them to their first (and many other) Broadway plays, and going to the Quogue Wildlife Refuge and the Riverhead Aquarium with them.

Mary Ann also loved to garden and grew tomatoes, strawberries, and even a (dwarf) peach tree in her Brooklyn backyard long before hipsters started claiming they had it invented urban homesteading. She brought her green thumb with her to much larger yards in Hampton Bays, and the irises she transplanted from her own mother‘s yard now grow across the country being divided time and time again by family and friends. The three legged deer who passes through the backyard on a regular basis, the turtle who lives in the compost heap, the bunnies who shelter under the back deck, and the various birds and squirrels who visit the hanging feeders all benefited from her work in the yard - which she continued to mow on her own until just recently..

She stayed active by kayaking in Tiana Bay, swimming and practicing Tai Chi. She lived by the motto “all things in moderation” which included eating a banana every morning for potassium and enjoying a shot of Kahlúa with her coffee on summer afternoons for... other benefits.

Mary Ann is proceeded in death by her parents, Patrick and Mary Joyce; her son-in-law, Michael Langsdorf;, and her brother-in-law Martin Hughes. She is remembered, celebrated and missed by her husband, William Hughes; her brother, Patrick Joyce, and his wife Dolores, her sister Theresa, Solowitz and her husband Bob; her sister-in-law Mary Hughes; also by her children: Elizabeth Hughes, Kathleen Mena and her husband Tim, Eileen Langsdorf, Matthew Hughes and his wife, Louranna, Regina Williams and her husband John, Andrew Hughes and his wife Aurora. Her loss is also deeply felt by her grandchildren Elfe Hughes, Carmen Tupas and her husband CJ, Miles and Sophia Mena, Megan and Sarah Langsdorf, Liam Hughes, Joseph, Jude and Eoin Williams, Aliana and Dylan Hughes; by her great-grandchildren, Delilah and Dante Tupas and my numerous nieces and nephews.

Mary Ann lived a rich in full life, dedicated to her family and helping others. While we wish we could have had more time with her, we hope she is enjoying a well-deserved rest in a place where she can sit poolside every day playing Rummikub and sipping coffee with Kahlúa, a hot cup of tea and a piece of homemade apple pie is waiting for her every evening, and at 7 PM Alex Trebek is always and forever the host of Jeopardy!

Her family is grateful for the exquisite care provided in her final days by the staff of East End Hospice - Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Westhampton Beach, and donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the center in Mary Ann‘s name. Donations can also be made to any of the following organizations that were meaningful to Mary Ann:. Saint Jude’s Children Research Hospital, Shriners’s Children’s or Tunnel to Towers Foundation.

Visiting hours will be held at R. J. O'Shea Funeral Home, 94 East Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays on Thursday, May 21, 2026 from 2 PM to 4 PM and 7 PM to 9 PM. A funeral mass will be held at St. Rosalie‘s Church, 31 East Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays on Friday, May 22, 2026 at 10:30 AM. Her remains will be cremated.