Larry Milton Hughes, 70, was professionally and affectionately known as "Fix-It Man" in his hometown of Crozet, where he died on September 22. He used his God-given talents for construction, repair, and serving his neighbor until, and even on, his very last day on earth.

Larry was born in Charlottesville to Wirt and Pearl Hughes on March 22, 1955, and attended Albemarle High School. He and Gale, his wife of nearly forty-nine years, raised three sons – Jeremy, Joshua, and Jacob – who survive him along with a brother, Tim. He treated his daughters-in-law as if they were his own girls. His grandsons Jackson, Luke, Hayden, Evan, and Jayce were the apple of his eye.

Larry was a member of Crozet Baptist Church where he and Gale led adult Sunday school. Larry enjoyed fishing and tinkering with anything mechanical. Countless families sleep under roofs he repaired, look through windows he installed, and travel staircases that he built by hand. When it came to projects in their own home, if Gale could dream it, he could build it.

If Larry came upon an abandoned dog or injured raccoon on these country roads, he would take it home to nurse it back to health. He saved homeless kittens, squirrels, even an owl among numerous birds. To his own pets, Larry was The Great Treatmaster. To Gale, he was the best ever Mary Kay delivery man, a job he fulfilled even on his last day of life.

A Celebration of Life with lunch to follow will take place at Crozet Baptist Church on Saturday, September 27, beginning at 11 a.m.