Evangeline E. “Vanny” Hughes, 94, of Cherokee, Iowa, went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, December 26, 2023 at her home in Cherokee, Iowa. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, December 30, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. at the Meriden Evangelical Free Church in Meriden, Iowa. Burial will be in the Liberty Township Cemetery at rural Meriden, Iowa. Visitation will be on Friday, December 29, 2023 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. with the family present from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. There will be a time of sharing at 6:30 p.m. at the funeral home on Friday evening. Services will be livestreamed on the Meriden Evangelical Free Church YouTube page. Online condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com. Vanny was born on June 21, 1929 in rural Meriden, the daughter of Eldon and Freida (Anderson) Fredrickson. She accepted Christ as her personal Savior at the age of 9. She attended Liberty #6 Country School for 8 years and graduated from Meriden High School in 1947. She lost her mother when she was 16. Vanny attended Wayne State College and Trinity Bible College. She married Jim Hughes, the love of her life at Oakdale Free Church on August 8, 1952. They lived in Meriden in the same house for 60 years. Jim was a farmer and Vanny was a devoted wife and homemaker. They had three children: Jim, Tracie, and David. In 2011, they moved to a duplex in Cherokee. Jim passed away on October 19, 2013. Vanny continued to live in their duplex until her death. She was a soloist her entire adult life and started singing at weddings and funerals when she was 14. She was active her entire life in the Meriden Free Church, teaching Sunday school, doing women’s ministries and singing in the choir. She traveled 12 years for Christian Women’s Club speaking and singing in a four state area. Vanny loved to travel and did so until Jim passed away. Her favorite trip was Egypt and the Holy Land. She also enjoyed fishing trips, time spent at their pond, baking, visiting shut-ins and entertaining people in their home. In later years, she loved to play games and was hard to beat at rummy cube. She loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and rarely missed their activities. Her goal in life was to be obedient and faithful to God, her family and her church until God called her home. Vanny was preceded in death by her husband Jim, parents Eldon and Frieda Fredrickson, mother-in-law Lottie Palmer, step-mother-in-law Stella Fredrickson, brothers Norman (Carolyn) Fredrickson and Darwin Fredrickson, brothers and sisters-in-law Raymond (Jeanell) Hughes, Kathryn (Gene) Windle and Neldalene (John) Lilly, and stepbrother Dick Sangwin. Those left to cherish Vanny’s memory are 3 children and their spouses, Jim and Linda Hughes of Cherokee, Iowa, Tracie and Woody Woodward of Buda, Texas, and David and Nancy Hughes of Orange City, Iowa; nine grandchildren, Molly (Eli) Paulsrud, Cory (Alyssa) Hughes, Rachel (Michael) Slininger, Jessica Woodward, Weston Woodward, Taylor Woodward, Courtney (Reed) Reuman, Cody (Brooke) Hughes, and Sydney Hughes; 11 great-grandchildren, Alex (Anna) Paulsrud, Anna Paulsrud, Jaxon Paulsrud, Jillian Paulsrud, Olivia Hughes, Sawyer Hughes, Owen Slininger, Mills Woodward, Ava Dias, Brooks Reuman, and Kinsley Reuman; sister-in-law Joey Fredrickson, and step-sister-Glenda Peters.
