Gerald 'Max' Hughes

Gerald "Max" Hughes died May 12.

Hughes grew up outside of Des Moines, Iowa. In his youth he was a scout. He enjoyed sharing all his knowledge with the children in his life. He graduated from Urbandale High School in 1946. His marriage to wife, Pat, endured 67 years. They left Iowa for California in 1950. He served two terms in the U.S. Marine Corps and one year during the Korean Conflict. The Hughes' working years were spent in the Bay Area.

Hughes was a long-time employee at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and retired after 30 years. He spent most of his career at Site 300 in Bunker 851 operating and maintaining the Linac, used for high energy radiography of high explosive testing.

The man in the "Levi" hat spent the last 24 years in Shingletown. Early on, Hughes donated many hours with the Shingletown Volunteer Fire Department helping with maintenance and building the Van Stellman training center. He also received his 15-year recognition pin with the Citizen Volunteer Patrol. His one big hobby was creating natural wood walking sticks, and anything else made with wood.

Services were recently held at Allen & Dahl in Palo Cedro with a graveside burial at the Northern California Veterans Cemetery in Igo. Memorial donations can be made to the American Heart Association or Shingletown Volunteer Fire Department.