The Higdon Family Association, Inc.

She was employed as a clinical dietician at Orange Memorial Hospital in Orlando in 1946. Later that year she became the first registered dietician at Winter Haven Hospital. From 1964 until her retirement in 1985 she workd for the Polk County Health Department, serving as the Director of Health Education. She was a fifty year member of the American Dietetic Association and served as a board member of the Florida Dietetic Association. In 1967, she was name a member of the Who's Who of American Women. She was a volunteer in the Girl Scouts of America and the PTA. She was a charter member of the Calvary Baptist Church and remained active in the church her entire life. She enjoyed spending time with her family and church friends, especially her Faith Sunday School class. She was preceded in death by her father, Robert Nathan Smith; mother, Martha Higdon Smith; and husband, Thomas Thompson Hughes. She is survived by her sisters, Frances Payne and Jo Ann Smith of Raleigh, NC. She leaves son, Robert T. Hughes & wife, Carol Hughes, Byron GA; son, Jeffery S. Hughs & wife, Sandra K. Hughes, Winter Haven, FL; daughter, Laura Smith, Knoxville, TN; daughter, Nancy Adams & husband, Bert Adams, Indian Rocks Beach, FL; Grandchildren - Jennifer Dent, Allison Stanly, Robert Smith, Jonathan Hughes, Bert Adams III, Kathryn Adams, Benjamin Hughes, Sarah Hughes, and 9 Great-Grandchildren. The family will received friends from 4 P.M. until 6 P.M., Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at Ott-Laughlin Funeral Home, 645 West Central Ave, Winter Haven, FL 33880. A service will be held at 2 P.M. on Thursday, February 9, 2012, at Calvary Baptist Church, 2101 Overlook Drive S.E., Winter Haven, FL 33884 followed by a private graveside burial. Memorial contributions may be made to Calvary Baptist Church of Good Shepher Hospice, 105 Arneson Ave, Auburndale, FL 33823,