Katharine Ann Hughes

Katharine Ann “Katie” or “Kitty” Hughes will be remembered for her kindness, generosity and sense of humor. She passed away unexpectedly on Dec. 7, 2022, at her Pullman home. She was 33.

Katie worked for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratory in Pullman as an assembler for 12 years. She made many friends and was a bright spot to those who knew her.

Born Jan. 26, 1989, in Chico, Calif., Katie was the youngest of four children born to Thomas and Katharine (O’Connell) Hughes. The family lived in Gridley, Calif., when Katie was a baby and moved to Crescent City and then Sacramento as she was growing up. When Katie was in the eighth grade, her family moved to Pullman, where she graduated high school in 2007.

As a teenager, she studied Japanese and enjoyed anime. She completed an associate degree at Spokane Community College while working full-time. Her miniature dachshund and two cats were her “babies.”

Katie will be sorely missed by many but most especially by her mother, Kathy O’Connell, of Pullman; her siblings in Pullman, Christopher Hughes, Allison Hughes, and Thomas “Andy” Hughes (Tiffany) and their daughter Luiella, whom she loved so much. She was preceded in death by her father.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. Jan. 26 at the Pullman Cemetery, weather permitting, or else at Sacred Heart Church in Pullman. Donations may be made to the Whitman County Humane Society or to diabetes research (such as with jdrf.org). The online guest book is at corbeillfuneralhome.com. Corbeill Funeral Home of Pullman is handling arrangements.