116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids free health clinic receives $276K gift
Barbara Hughes had a long life, ‘recognized she was fortunate’
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CEDAR RAPIDS — The estate of Barbara J. Hughes has given the Community Health Free Clinic in Cedar Rapids a gift of $276,000.
“Barbara enjoyed good health for most of her life and recognized she was fortunate,” her nephew Dick Ransom said. “I think that’s the reason she wanted to help the Community Health Free Clinic, so others would have an opportunity to receive care.”
Hughes, of Cedar Rapids, died Oct. 8, 2023, at age 102.
Darlene Schmidt, the clinic’s cofounder and CEO, said gifts like the one from Hughes are the reason the clinic, 947 14th Ave. SE, “can continue to offer compassionate medical care to thousands of patients every year. We are so grateful she believed in our mission and trusted us to use her gift wisely.”
Hughes was born in 1921 in Oelwein, where she graduated from high school, and moved with her parents to Cedar Rapids, where she attended Coe College. She worked as a secretary for La Plant Choate, Fruehauf, Terry Durin Co. and Collins Radio.
She married Gerald F. Ard in 1943 and lived in New Mexico and Honolulu. After his death in 1971, she returned to Cedar Rapids to care for her mother and aunt. In 1987, she married Ralph Hughes, and they enjoyed traveling, Iowa football games and spending time with Ralph’s family. He died in 1996, after which Barbara moved to Meth-Wick.
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