Class of 1950
1950 Maroon Spotlight
Mabel VanHoesen
Library Staff 49-50.
1950 Graduation EditionPerry Daily Journal
Mabel VanHoesen was born March 3, 1933, in Billings, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph VanHoesen, route 2, Perry. She attended grade schools at Compton and Whipple, and started her high school education at Hayward. While attending PHS, she was a member of the cast in the junior class play. Miss VanHoesen was a member of the library staff this year at Perry high school.
Helen “Mabel” (VanHoesen) Hughes
March 3, 1933 — September 30, 2026
Helen Mabel Hughes, known as Mabel, of Perry, Oklahoma, passed away on September 30, 2026, at the age of 93.
Mabel’s life was closely connected to Perry, where she and her husband, Harry Ervin Hughes, established their first home after marrying in Stillwater on September 8, 1950. Together they raised three children – Beverly, Rosanna, and Harry Jr., affectionately known as “Bub”; and shared 71 years of marriage before Harry’s death on September 30, 2021.
Their partnership extended into their working lives. Mabel kept the books for Perry Paint and Body Shop, which Harry operated for 25 years before its sale in November 1978. She also served as secretary of Three Sands Oil Company, contributing her own work to the family’s business endeavors.
Perry remained home throughout their decades together, even as Mabel and Harry traveled around the world with family and friends. They were members of the First United Methodist Church and the Perry Golf and Country Club. Their home even held a piece of Perry’s history: bricks salvaged from the old St. Louis Hotel were used in its construction. Mabel enjoyed bowling and was in a league for a couple of years. She also loved her many fishing trips with her family, and taking her three children skiing to Red River and Angel Fire in New Mexico.
Over the years, their family grew to include sons-in-law Max Behara and Danny Coldiron (deceased), grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Their shared life stretched across generations, connecting the family’s beginnings in Perry with the lives and families their children went on to build.
Family members who have passed before Mabel include her husband, Harry; her son, Harry “Bub” Hughes Jr.; her granddaughter, Abbi Dawn Coldiron; her sisters, Effie Marie Welch, Juanita Ann Bounds; and her two brothers Chet VanHoesen and Roy VanHoesen.
Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, October 9, 2026, at 2:00 P.M. at the First United Methodist Church in Perry. Donations can be made in her name to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (https://alzfdn.org/), or the Dementia Society of America (https://Dementia Society of America/).