Services for The Most Rev. William A. Hughes, D.D., 91, first principal of Cardinal Mooney High School

Staff report

FORT THOMAS, Ky.

The Most Rev. William A. Hughes, D.D., 91, the retired bishop of the Diocese of Covington, Ky., and first principal of Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, died Thursday in Carmel Manor Nursing Home here.

Bishop Hughes was born Sept. 23, 1921, in Youngstown, a son of James and Anna Philbin Hughes.

A graduate of Ursuline High School, he attended St. Charles Seminary in Baltimore and St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland and was ordained April 6, 1946, in St. Columba Cathedral in Youngstown.

His first assignments were as an assistant at St. Charles Parish in Boardman and at St. Joseph Parish in Massillon.

In 1956, he received a master’s degree in education from the University of Notre Dame and became Mooney’s principal. He served as that school’s first principal until 1965.

He was elevated to monsignor in 1961 and became superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Youngstown in 1965 and auxiliary bishop of the diocese in 1974.

He was active in community affairs, serving as a member and chairman of the Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation and as treasurer of the Youngstown Area Community Action Council.

In 1975, he became a trustee of Walsh College in Canton.

Bishop Hughes was named bishop of the Diocese of Covington, Ky. in 1979, retiring in 1995.

During his tenure, five new parishes and five new missions, most in eastern Kentucky, were established.

Services will be at noon Friday at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, where friends may call from noon to 7 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m. until service time on Friday.

Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Fort Mitchell, Ky.