Sarah E. Hughes ’81 died on July 13, 2025, in Worcester, Massachusetts.
(The following was provided by Legacy.com on July 13, 2025:)
Sarah E. Hughes ’81
Sarah Elizabeth Hughes passed away on July 13, 2025, in Worcester, MA, at the Rose Monahan Hospice Residence after a long and challenging illness. She was born on March 13, 1959, in Worcester, MA, to parents Ralph (d. 2020) and Nancy (d. 2018) Hughes. Sarah grew up in the countryside north of Worcester. She later lived in Maine, Cambridge, Worcester, Providence, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and lastly Oakham, Massachusetts. Sarah attended Wachusett Regional High School, Worcester Academy, Bowdoin College, UMass-Boston and the New England School of Acupuncture.
She graduated from the New England School of Acupuncture in 1997 and then embarked on a post-graduate year of study as an apprentice to Professor T. Koei Kuwahara. She was able to travel and study in Japan with him. She was a gifted acupuncturist and worked in private practice from 1998 to 2008, primarily in Providence, RI. She became known especially for helping women with fertility issues. She always brought a deep sense of caring and compassion to her work.
Sarah possessed many talents and interests throughout her life including music, writing, weaving, and travel, as well as her study and practice of Nichiren Buddhism. She was a talented flautist and singer, and sometimes performed for small events with family and friends. She was a member of the Providence Singers chorale group at one time. Music remained a special passion and something she enjoyed in the final stage of her life.
Sarah is fondly remembered by the many people she practiced Nichiren Buddhism with in the SGI during the 1980s and 1990s. Many recall her deeply-rooted faith, her joyful smile, and the warm way she embraced and cared for others. She embraced a grand exuberance for life and brought youthful levity and humor to many.
In 2005 Sarah married Jonathan Stone and found excitement and encouragement in that relationship, but it was dissolved in 2019. Sarah leaves her sister, Jenny Lee Hughes of Stoddard, NH, and a brother, Peter Owen Hughes of Worcester, MA, as well as a brother-in-law, Edward Yoxen, nieces, nephews, many cousins, dear friends and devoted care givers.