‘A bright light at Coastal Carolina’: Crash victim loved her alma mater, employer, cars
Jessica Kelly Hughes of Longs knew during her time as an undergraduate student at Coastal Carolina that she didn’t just want a degree from the university, she wanted a career at the school.
She loved the university, and the university loved her back.
But what she anticipated would be a long relationship with the school was tragically cut short this week.
Hughes, a Coastal Carolina alumna and employee, died at the age of 25 in a three-vehicle crash on Tuesday morning on S.C. 905 near Station Road in Longs.
“Jessica Hughes was a bright light at Coastal Carolina University, and it is incredibly difficult to believe this tragedy has taken her from us,” said Martha Hunn, CCU Associate Vice President and Chief Communication Officer. “She was a dedicated CCU student and employee, genuinely conveying a spirit and warmth and caring in her service of others.
“It was evident that Jessica loved Coastal and she will be terribly missed by her Chanticleer family.”
Hughes earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from CCU in 2017 and recently began pursuing a master’s degree in communications. She had been a student accounts specialist in CCU’s Office of Student Accounts since April 2019.
She spent two years as a teller at Conway National Bank in North Myrtle Beach after graduation while waiting for a position to open at her alma mater.
“She loved her job, she loved her school,” said Hughes’ mother, Diana Gore, of Longs. “She told me when she went there, she said, ‘When I graduate I want to get a job out here. I want to work for Coastal,’ and she made it her goal. . . . She was so happy she got back to Coastal, that’s where she wanted to be.”
While attending CCU, Hughes worked in both the Office of Financial Services and with Hunn in the Office of University Marketing and Communication. She was also a reporter for The Chanticleer newspaper and wrote both news and opinion articles, including the weekly “Local Business Spotlight.”
The member of Buck Creek Baptist Church cared for the students she worked with and just about anyone else she came in contact with.
“She was so loving and kind and she was family,” Gore said. “She talked to everybody it didn’t matter their age, their race. She was so loving.”
Hughes died while doing something else she loved: driving her prized Ford Mustang California Special 5.0.
She was a Mustang enthusiast who entered cars in shows and competitions and won several trophies. She was on her third Mustang, upgrading with each purchase.
Hughes and her mother regularly attended the annual Mustang Week in Myrtle Beach, and she was looking forward to showing her new Mustang this year before it was canceled due to the coronavirus.
The local Mustang community has planned the Jessica Hughes Memorial Cruise-In on Sept. 9 beginning at 7 p.m. at Suck Bang Blow in Murrells Inlet.
Hughes was a Myrtle Beach native who graduated with honors from Loris High, where she was a drum major in the band.
She was regularly on the Dean’s List at CCU and among the scholarships she received was the Women in Philanthropy and Leadership for Coastal Carolina University Annual Scholarship for the 2015-16 school year.
Hughes was engaged to Robbie Bell, an assistant superintendent at the Hackler Course at Coastal Carolina.
Visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. Friday at Hardwick Funeral Home in Loris, funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Buck Creek Baptist Church, and committal services will follow at Holly Hill Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Coastal Education Fund at P.O. Box 261954, Conway, SC 29528 or Buck Creek Baptist Church at 11483 Hwy. 905 North, Longs, SC 29568.
Hughes is survived by her mother and step-father, Shawn Gore of Longs; father Eric Hughes of Loris; sister Casey Willard and husband, Will, of Rockingham, N.C.; half-brother Landon Milligan of Tabor City, N.C.; fiance Robbie Bell of Conway; maternal grandparents Joyce Hall of Conway and Jimmy Hall of Galivants Ferry; paternal grandmother Audrey Hughes of Loris; paternal step-grandparents Billy D. Gore and Verona Gore of Longs; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 3:19 PM.
