Mary Kate E. Adams Hughes

Mary Kate Adams, age 87, passed away peacefully in Kansas City, MO on Nov. 9, 2021. Mary Kate was the loving wife of the deceased Charles S. Adams of Blue Point, NY, and wife of second husband, Jerome Hughes, of Kansas City. Mary Kate was born on June 16, 1934, in Patchogue, NY to Kathleen (Rowse) and Elmer tenHoopen. She spent her youth in her beloved South Patchogue home on South Ocean Avenue, graduating from Seton Hall High School in 1952. Mary Kate studied at Farmingdale State College and Suffolk Community College and worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory and in the Patchogue-Medford Public School system as an adult assistant for a child with cerebral palsy.
Mary Kate loved the Great South Bay and the ocean, and on one of her many trips to Davis Park, Fire Island, she met Charles "Bud" Adams, whom she married in 1956 at St. Francis de Sales Church in Patchogue. Mary Kate always wanted a big family, and her wish came true with the births of her seven children, whom she raised with unconditional love, patience, and devotion.
Mary Kate was a devout Catholic and lived her life as the embodiment of her faith. She served Communion to the homebound as a Eucharistic Minister at St. Francis de Sales, knitted shawls for the ill as part of the Prayer Shawl group at St. Luke Catholic Church in Westport, CT, and provided spiritual support as a hospice care volunteer. Outside of church, she loved to entertain, cook, and open her home to friends and family no matter the occasion.
Mary Kate lived her retirement years with her husband Charles in Shepherdstown, WV, Frankford, DE, and Westport, CT. She moved to Herndon, VA after Charles passed in 2019. Throughout the many places she called home, her beautiful spirit, kindness, generosity, and hospitality bore dozens of lifelong friends who cherished her like family.
In 2021, Mary Kate reconnected with her childhood friend and Seton Hall classmate, Jerome Hughes, originally of Patchogue, and the two were happily married on September 10, 2021, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Herndon, VA, surrounded by family.
Mary Kate was preceded in death by her first husband of 62 years, Charles S. Adams, and her two siblings, Christine Terry and Jon tenHoopen. She is survived by her second husband Jerome Hughes, her children Sean (Trisha) Adams, Hope (Dennis) Cohen, Charles S. (Georgia) Adams Jr., Kathleen (William) McVicar, Glenn (JoAnn) Adams, Mary Kate (John) Brangaccio, and Elizabeth Adams Mohan, and by her grandchildren Brendan (Katie) Adams, Joshua (Lindsay) Adams, Nathan Cohen, Abigail Cohen, Barrett Adams, Elena Adams, Ian (Emily) McVicar, Emma McVicar, Olivia Adams, Elias Adams, Luke Brangaccio, Natalie Brangaccio, Madison Mohan, Emerson Mohan, and great-grandchildren Diana Adams, Aiden Adams, Waverly Adams, and Harrison Adams.
A memorial Mass will be held on Saturday, January 8, at 10 am, at St. Francis de Sales Church in Patchogue, followed by inurnment at Blue Point Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Francis de Sales Church at https://www.stfrancispatchogue.com/, St. Luke Catholic Church at https://www.saintlukewestport.org/ or the Hospice Foundation of America at https://hospicefoundation.org/.


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