Justin C. Hughes

Justin Hughes was a guy who enjoyed life to its fullest. He had a great sense of humor and loved to give those he loved a hard time. You could tell how much he liked you by the effort Justin put in to teasing around with you. He was very gentle and would do almost anything for anyone.

In 1988, the first transatlantic fiber optic cable was laid, laser eye surgery was invented, and Full House and The Simpsons were starting to run their second seasons after a successful first season aired on a weekly evening. During this year on January 31, 1988, Justin C. Hughes was born in Defiance, Ohio. He was the son of Jay L. and Stacy I. (Helf) Hughes. Along with his younger siblings, Breanna and Jeremy, Justin grew up in Defiance. He loved being active and adventurous outdoors. He had many fond memories riding horse, going fishing with his grandpa and taking trips with his cousins to Florida with their grandparents. Along with buddies, he enjoyed many weekends and weeknights out riding four wheelers.

While attending Tinora High School, he wrestled and played football. It was also during high school where he finally asked out Faron M. Clark. The two had known each other since the fifth grade. Faron became Justin's best friend and he introduced her to his love of four wheeling. After graduating with the Class of 2006, the couple was married on June 29, 2007 at Faron's parents' home in Defiance. They would move to Fort Wayne, Indiana for college where Justin earned an associate degree from International Business College in Accounting.

Justin began his professional career with Lincoln Financial Group in Fort Wayne. He worked nine years for them and was an account manager. When he was away from work, he and Faron loved to travel around and go to wineries. They loved going up to Traverse City, Michigan on the M-22 route and tour different wineries and would go for a week at a time. He enjoyed quality time with his family, adored his nieces and nephews along with his fur babies, Bella and Ollie.

Justin was first diagnosed with cancer in April of 2011. He had a stage 3 anaplastic astrocytoma and was told he would have 5 years or less of life.

While going through treatments, he had to take time off work, but that did not stop him from working. While Faron was there to help take care of him, he wanted to return the favor the best he could because she still maintained a full-time job. Besides from smoking meats, Justin gave cooking a try and found out he was good at it and it also helped take his mind off the everyday stresses he had battling the cancer. He and his wife would cook together, try new recipes and just experiment with new ingredients and techniques. Justin would go back to Lincoln, but it did not have the same fulfillment that he received from cooking. With the new passion for culinary cooking and add that to the passion of travel and wine, Justin began a blog to share with others he and Faron's love, "InspiredFoodies.com".

Being influenced by Faron, Justin began attending church with her in high school and that helped form his strong Christian faith. Through his battle with cancer, his faith helped lead him to stay positive. His testimony over the years brought many people to have a relationship with Christ and will continue in the future and is the best legacy he could have left. He was active after going through treatments and got into running in several 5K's, including one with Faron at the Defenders Dash and even convinced his brother and brother-in-law to run with him in a race. He and Faron also took many bike trips and was not uncommon to ride over 20-mile trips. As a kid, Justin wanted a sports car and as a reward he had after going through his treatments was the purchase of a Mustang convertible that he drove around proudly. He also was a proud Dallas Cowboys and Ohio Buckeyes fan.

Unfortunately, on July 26, 2018 Justin's family learned what they were terrified of. The cancer had come back, but not just like the previous brain tumor but stronger, larger and with vengeance. They traveled the country to find that right medical team and visited several leading medical research hospitals. Justin was told that he might have 2-3 months back in September of 2018. Little did they know how much of a fighter Justin was. He and Faron had recently moved to Columbia City at the beginning of the summer of 2019. Tragically, his health declined on July 15, 2019 and he had several seizures. Justin Hughes passed away in the arms of his loving wife and welcomed into the arms of Christ Jesus at 4:50 p.m. Monday, August 12, 2019 at Visiting Nurse and Hospice Home in Fort Wayne at the age of 31.

Survivors include his loving wife, Faron Hughes; two Toy Goldendoodle puppies, Bella and Ollie; parents, Jay and Stacy Hughes, of Defiance, OH; sister, Breanna Hughes; brother, Jeremy (Kristan) Hughes; grandmother, Dorothy Hughes, of Tollesboro, Kentucky; father- and mother-in-Law, Barry and Debbra Clark, of Defiance, OH; brothers-in-law, Shane (Tracy) Clark, Colt (Kerri) Clark; and Jordan (Tiera) Clark; and 11 nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, Orin Hughes, Arthur and Pam Helf; nephew, Graham Hughes and two miniature Schnauzers, Halo and Coco.

A gathering of family and friends will be from 4-7:30 p.m. Friday, August 23, 2019 at DeMoney-Grimes, a Life Story Funeral Home, 600 Countryside Drive, Columbia City with a prayer service to conclude starting at 7:00. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Justin's memory to Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana. Visit www.demoneygrimes.com to send his family condolences online.