Hugh Denton Hester, 98, of the Red Rock community in Tuscumbia, AL, passed away September 18, 2023. Visitation will be held at the Colbert Memorial Chapel on Thursday, September 21, at 12:00pm. The funeral service will begin at 2:00pm, with a graveside burial in the adjoining gardens immediately following. Pallbearers will be from among grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to Make-A-Wish, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, or a charity of your choice. The family offers our sincere gratitude to the team of caregivers from SouthernCare New Beacon Hospice for their dedication, concern, and professionalism during the past months.
Denton was preceded in death by his parents, Hugh and Weber Hester, and siblings Martha Killian, Earleen Zinaman, Miranda Jett, Glenn Hester, Lawrence Hester, Rebecca Nail, Ruth Thompson, Wayne Hester, and Jack Hester.
Denton is survived by his wife of over 75 years, Lucille Bolton Hester; sons, Larry (Sandy) and Randy (Marian); grandchildren, Chad (Alana), Will (Titus Daniels), Nicholas (Bess), and Emily (Jason) Reaves; great-grandchildren, Jay, Anna Lee, Samuel, Eleanor, Thomas, Madeline Hester and Luke Reaves; brother, Douglas Hester; sisters, Ann Culberson and Dorothy Malone; and a host of nieces and nephews.
Denton loved his family, his neighbors, and the community of Red Rock where he spent most of his life. Blessed with a photographic memory, he often served as an encyclopedia of both his and the community’s history; Denton’s most beloved pastime was visiting with, and captivating the attention of, an audience to these stories. Holding a close second place was treating his family to any meal, especially a dinner of fried catfish.
Denton attended Cane Creek Church in Red Rock, which was constructed on inheritance funds donated by his mother, Weber, following her father’s passing. Too young to join the military, he first served the World War II effort in the Pacific with the U.S. Merchant Marines, then returned to post-war Japan for one year as a motor pool sergeant in the U.S. Army. After marrying Lucille, Denton became a skilled pipefitter and welder, spending most of his working years with TVA, progressing into a labor relations position from which he retired in 1985.
Never one to shy away from hard work, Denton’s free time was often dedicated to his small farm as a proud member of the Alabama Cattleman’s Association. Instead of a tractor, he preferred to use his mule team, Dusty and Clean, for plowing his garden, gathering corn, or carrying feed to the cows. As a member of local wagon train clubs in Alabama and Mississippi, he rode many miles with friends that shared his passion for horses and mules. In 1986, Denton was selected, along with his mule team, to pull the Alabama state wagon (first built for the U.S. Bicentennial celebration in 1976) on a wagon train, escorted by the National Park Service, the full length of the Natchez Trace. He was one of a hardy few participants who logged every mile from Nashville, TN, to Natchez, MS, requiring over a month of continuous travel to complete the journey.
Denton’s legacy will forever be his endurance in the face of life’s hardships; his limitless love and guiding counsel which always placed the passing troubles of the day in their proper, insignificant, place will be the work that his family will strive to preserve for those that never experienced it.
