Memorial services for Marie G. Hughes, age 88, of Watertown, SD, formerly Wilmot, SD, will be at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30, 2010, at the Crawford Funeral Chapel in Watertown.  Pastor Eldon DeBoer will officiate.  Music will be provided by Peggy Biswell.  Marie passed away on Friday, March 26, 2010, at a care center in Irene, SD.  She was the widow of Willard C. Hughes, who passed away on March 12, 2000.

     Burial will be at the Wilmot Cemetery in Wilmot, SD. 

     Visitation will be on Tuesday one hour prior to services at the chapel.  The family is requested to meet at the chapel on Tuesday by 1:30 p.m. for a prayer service.    

     Marie was born on January 27, 1922, at Wilmot, SD, to Magne and Signa (Stensing) Aspelund. She graduated from Wilmot High School and continued her education in cosmetology.  Marie was a beauty operator in Milbank and Wilmot, SD.  She enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1940.  Marie served for 3 ½ years, running training films at boot camp in San Diego, CA.  She was also a member of the Reserves.

     On October 28, 1945, Marie married Willard Carlyle Hughes at San Diego, CA. Marie obtained a ham radio license and ran the ham radio at General Electric and made calls for ambulance runs.  After earning a bookkeeping degree, Marie worked in Cincinnati, OH, at the G.E clinic; as a Kelly Girl; and was head over insurance claims for Union Central Life Insurance Co.    

     Marie is survived by two daughters: Paula (Rick) West of Minneapolis, MN, and Ingrid Brakss of Fergus Falls, MN; one brother, Walter (Ida) Aspelund, of Rosholt, SD, and many nieces and nephews.

    She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, one brother, and two sisters.