Msgr. Michael H. Hughes; Church Founder

Msgr. Michael H. Hughes, one of the founders of Ventura’s Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church, died on Tuesday in Ventura following a brief illness. He was 81.

He was born Nov. 24, 1919, in Tuame, County Mayo, Ireland, and was one of six children.

He attended St. Matthew College in Ballaghadereen, Ireland; the Irish College in Paris, and Maynooth College in Wexford, Ireland.

He also attended St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo and was ordained in 1945. He celebrated his first Mass at the Santa Barbara Mission.

Hughes’ first assignment was in Compton, and from there he transferred to San Buenaventura Mission in 1950.

He was involved in founding the Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Ventura. He also served at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo and St. Anne’s Church in Santa Ana.

He was the founding pastor of St. Kilian Church in Mission Viejo, where he served from 1970 until his retirement in 1990.

After retiring, Hughes moved back to Ventura and had been serving at San Buenaventura Mission.

In 1995, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination.

He is survived by his sister Constance McGinley of Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland.

A rosary will be said at 5 p.m. Sunday at San Buenaventura Mission. Burial Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Monday, also at the mission. Interment will follow at the Santa Clara Cemetery in Oxnard.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Joseph P. Reardon Funeral Home in Ventura.