Mary Ellen Douglas:
It is difficult to write, in such a small space, my comforting and almost 48 years of memories of Jim Hughes. It would take a book.
I first met Jim in 1978 when I travelled to Toronto at the request of Paul Dodds who was recruiting small pro-life groups, like our VITA group in Kingston, Ont. We were gathered in a van to go to the home of two pro-life Toronto doctors for our meeting. Jim was the last one to come in the van and he started teasing and joking. This was the Jim Hughes that I came to know.
If I had to compare Jim to anyone it would be St. Peter. I always picture St. Peter travelling from one city to another after receiving the Holy Spirit as he and the other apostles under his direction started up small Christian communities, facing much opposition. I also picture St. Peter’s compassion as well as directing his flock.
Jim lived his life close to God and the Sacraments, especially Mass and the Holy Eucharist. He headed a new organization expanding across the country, with a goal to have one active Campaign Life leader in each riding. He motivated you to take on projects you were sure you could not do, but he was always there and never let you down.
We were at a strategy meeting in Scarborough when Jim asked me to take on the role of national organizer for CLC. I panicked and said “my husband works and we have five young children at home. My mom is not well. I need to be there.” So, in his usual way, Jim said “That’s fine, you can work from home on the computer.” I became a pioneer in a work- from -home office. He called every day to make certain I wasn’t having any problems.
Strategies were argued over and Jim would say, “go have lunch with someone you don’t agree with because we don’t move forward without consensus.” We never voted by majority; only by consensus. Jim initiated strategies which were needed but when consensus was finally reached, he passed the task on to someone else and never claimed any laurels as his own. They always had Jim’s support and the support of all the CLC leaders in the background.
After two or three heavy strategy sessions during the day, the CLC “kids” enjoyed a social. Some of these are classics and would require another 500-word essay. Jim would roll his eyes and go to bed tired. I remember a joke session where three “professional joke tellers” had us laughing for hours and a few fell into the pool at the Niagara convent. Oddly enough we weren’t invited back.
We also managed to find some humor in the Ontario NDP government’s attempt to charge and jail 18 of us for picketing. One of our artists made a collage of the heads of the “Pro-life 18.” Jim’s picture was at the top left and mine on the bottom right. This picture hung in Jim’s office. A visitor came in and remarked that he had never seen Jim without his beard. Jim laughingly replied, “that is because the picture is of Mary Ellen.” Jim often referred to me as his sister and I, in turn, referred to him as my older, by two years, brother. I guess over time we did begin to look alike.
Jim cared for our well-being by offering the condo in Florida that he, Ginny, and their family had inherited. He would find clever ways to give many of us a needed break without letting us know who our benefactor was. My husband Allan and I and our two daughters were in the condo for three days before I found the Mass schedule and said, “This is Jim’s condo, isn’t it?”
In all those years, Jim Hughes, with the support of God’s grace, the love of his family, and his pro-life family never wavered from the tasks he was called to do. Now that he has gone to his reward, I know that he is still praying for all of us who are still labouring in the trenches, waiting for the day when human life from conception to natural death is once again protected. God bless you, Jim, and thank you Lord for the gift of Jim Hughes.
Mary Ellen Douglas served as national organizer of Campaign Life Coalition.
