She spent 30 years working in Fulton County for the state Division of Family and Children Services, but Glenna Hughes’ heart was with Broadway.
Over the years, Mrs. Hughes was a regular at local dinner theaters, where you might have found her in “Guys and Dolls,” “Oklahoma,” “Kiss Me, Kate” or other classic Broadway stage productions.
She was so sure she would become a professional actress that as a teenager in Harrodsburg, Ky., she landed parts in outdoor theater productions that starred actor Fess Parker as Daniel Boone. She also pursued a degree in drama at the University of Louisville.
After leaving college, Mrs. Hughes hoped to strike it big in Hollywood but struggled while trying to land roles during casting calls, said her first husband, Alan Allrid of Greensboro.
She and Mr. Allrid met after she left Hollywood for Atlanta, he said. They married in 1969, had a son and remained together for several years.
She later married Holly Hughes of Conyers, who said her love of musicals never left her and she became involved in many local productions before eventually focusing on family and career.
Mrs. Hughes helped start Neighborhood Playhouse in Decatur in the late 1970s, Mr. Hughes said. She appeared in productions with the playhouse, which has since been renamed Theatre Decatur.
“She never did make it big time,” Mr. Hughes said, “but she could have if she’d stuck with it.”
Glenna Boswell Hughes, 64, of Conyers died on the eve of Thanksgiving after suffering a heart attack at home. Mr. Hughes said he attempted to resuscitate his wife, who had suffered an aneurysm last year, but she later died at Emory University Hospital. Visitation for Mrs. Hughes, who was cremated,will be 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Horis A. Ward Funeral Home’s Rockdale Chapel.
Mr. Hughes said he met his future wife in 1982 when he was a manager at a restaurant frequented by Neighborhood Playhouse cast members. They married a year later.
Janet Wheeler, an economic support supervisor at DFCS who worked with Mrs. Hughes for 26 years, said she was known as a well-rounded problem-solver. She worked as a claims manager and as a case worker, but there were many other responsibilities.
“She touched many lives,” Ms. Wheeler said. “I just came from a meeting and had several people talking about her. She was a true asset to the Fulton County Division of Family and Children Services.”
Mr. Hughes, a water treatment operator for Rockdale County, said his wife loved to sing, read, write poetry and cook.
“She was the perfect mother and wife," he said. "I've lost my soul mate."
Additional survivors include sons Matthew Allrid of Snellville and Brandon Hughes of Conyers; and stepdaughter Heather Johnson of Tennessee.
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