Michael Hughes

Michael Lyndon Hughes was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on January 28, 1953, the third child among a trio of sisters—Karin, Cathy and Deborah. His mother Kathleen Barnes was a British war bride who met and married his father Gorden Spencer Hughes while he waited in Bournemouth for an RCAF flight back to Canada at the end of his WWII service.

After university in Edmonton, Gordon rejoined the RCAF and the family was transferred to England; then North Bay, Ontario; St-Hubert, Quebec and finally Nova Scotia, but upon retirement he returned to live in England with his wife and two youngest children. There, Michael attended high school in Bournemouth and afterwards worked in many different fields, but he had a particular liking and skill for landscaping and building with rocks.

After marrying an English rose, Mike returned to live in British Columbia, and lived first in Quesnel and later on Galiano Island where he remained for nearly 40 years, at Thera and then on South Galiano. Formed using his large dump truck, small excavator and a strong back, Mike's creative handiwork can be seen in the many rock walls and terraces scattered about the island. He loved this work in particular, but was also a jack of many other trades. He was equally comfortable welding, doing carpentry, and messing around under the hood of a vehicle, and often assisted others with his time, skills, ingenuity and can-do attitude. Many stories about his quirky character, adventures—and misadventures—remain among his island acquaintances and family members, as FaceBook can attest.

Mike is survived by his three children—Sam (Erika), Keira (Chuck) and Amber—two beloved granddaughters, Shona and Rosie, his three sisters, nephew Lee, and nieces Deborah and Matreya.

A cremation will take place in Langford at 2pm on April 2, 2021. Next summer we hope to have a bigger celebration of Mike's life on Galiano to honour this great character of a man.