Hugh loved music. In the Purdue marching band, he earned the right to march with the 50 lb. King Jumbo sousaphone. Over the course of his life, he played sousaphone, tuba, trombone, trumpet, and bugle, as well as bagpipe in the Syracuse Kiltie Bagpipe Band and baritone in the Skaneateles Community Band. He sang with the Skaneateles First Presbyterian Church choir and the Masterworks Chorale, and anyone sitting near him in church remembers his resounding bass voice.
A voracious reader, he kept the Skaneateles librarians busy filling his book orders. He knew something about almost everything and gave freely of his gift of wide-ranging knowledge. Anyone consulting him with a question or problem would receive a well-thought out analysis of the problem, usually accompanied by a diagram and a dose of his wry humor. Hugh’s other loves were camping, skiing, farm equipment, large-scale vegetable gardening, raising livestock, and playing cribbage. Gatherings by the water with family and friends at Skaneateles Lake and Fishers Island were a constant throughout his life.
Hugh is survived by his wife of 52 years, Sandra; three children, Eric (Debora) of Evanston, Illinois, Andrew (Jennifer) of Jeffersonville, Vermont, and Gillian (Jeffrey) of Lakeview, Montana; and six grandchildren, Zoe, Ava, River, Amelia, Ivy and Emerson. He was predeceased by his brother, Andy Hadley, and is survived by his three sisters, Jeffrey Dohrenwend, Ellen Richey Woodzell, and Anne Brouillier.
A memorial service will be held at Skaneateles First Presbyterian Church on Saturday, April 27th at 11 am. Donations in memory of Hugh may be made to Teach for America or the Skaneateles First Presbyterian Church.
To send condolences visit: robertdgrayfuneralhome.com.