Edward C. Hughes Jr., 86

Edward C. Hughes Jr., 86, unexpectedly passed away Oct. 4, 2016, at his home in Plains, Mont. Ed was born Dec. 13, 1929, in Kellogg, Idaho, to Ed C. Hughes Sr. and Nellie Hughes.

The family moved to Princeton, Mont., where Ed attended grade school in Maxville in a one-room school house. He later attended Hellgate High School in Missoula through his sophomore year. His father was a mining prospector and owned and operated several mines throughout Montana, all while teaching Ed how to be an underground hard rock miner. It was his junior year that he left school to be a miner.

Ed rolled into Butte on Dec. 6, 1947, and applied for a hard rock miner position. He was told he had the job but would have to wait one week until he turned 18 to go on shift. So on his 18th birthday he went underground, and was the youngest miner on the hill out of 5,000 miners for a day.

Ed met Wilma waitressing in a diner in Dillon, Mont., and they later married, having four sons, Mike, Pat, Bret and Kelly. Ed started a housing pre-fab company in Butte in 1956, eventually winding up under the ownership of Anaconda Copper Co., who later sold it to Boise Cascade. Today these homes are known nationwide as Boise Cascade Homes. Ed eventually settled in Post Falls, Idaho, where he raised his four boys. Ed developed numerous subdivisions and built many homes in the Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene area. He was always an adventurous entrepreneur.

In 1973, he built and owned a floating restaurant on Lake Coeur d’Alene, called The Green Dolphin. Ed loved to travel and explore. He once traveled to Australia by himself, exploring the entire country. Ed loved the water, and this inspired him to build and own a cabin in Kona, Hawaii, on the beach in Mulege, Mexico, and on Paradise Island in Paradise, Mont.

One of Ed’s favorite things to do was go Honky-Tonkin. He loved to dance, sometimes going out and dancing every night of the week. Ed was the most generous, kind man you would ever meet. He was not only a father to his four boys, but also a father figure to many who knew him. We miss you and love you Dad. We will always remember those Labor Day weekends with hundreds of people on Paradise Island.

Ed was preceded in death by his father, Ed Sr.; mother Nellie and his brother, Curt. He is survived by his four sons, Mike (Susan) Hughes, Pat Hughes, Bret (Becky) Hughes and Kelly Hughes. His loving companion Jerre Stephens, Wilma Higgins; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, on Paradise Island in Paradise.