Robert Hughes, Reptech Owner -- Retired Businessman Described As `Passionate About Everything'

"Charming and daring."

"Passionate about anything."

"A great friend to everybody."

Such tributes brightened a memorial gathering for Robert E. Hughes last weekend at the Ballard Elks lodge.

Words on the area businessman's persuasive salesmanship, skill at boat racing and love for British motorbikes also were shared.

"The gathering (was) nonreligious and free-flowing, just like Bob," said his wife of 26 years, Pamela Ann Hughes of Seattle.

Mr. Hughes, who founded the high-tech sales firm RepTech, died of cancer April 17. He was 65.

A Seattle native and an Edmonds High School graduate, Mr. Hughes served in the Merchant Marine in the Korean War, and worked as a lithographer and manager for Seattle's American Can Co. from 1950 to 1980. Retiring at age 50, he went into high-tech sales. He and his wife founded their own company in 1989.

All the while he was racing sailboats, and collecting and riding motorcycles. He and his wife got together when he asked her to crew on a 26-foot Thunderbird racing/cruising sloop he had built.

"He was crewless at the dock," laughed his wife.

He went gung-ho for whatever interested him, like arguing a political point, or watching films of people climbing the Himalayas, his wife said.

"He'd call my girlfriend names if they disagreed. There were no grays for Bob. Only black and white."

"He did have a zest for life," said the Hugheses' friend Linda

Christenson. "And he lived life very fully."

Other survivors include a daughter, Caroline Hughes of Seattle; his sons Robert Hughes Jr. of Atlanta, and Charlie Hughes of Bellingham; his sisters Eileen Adams of Coos Bay, Ore., and Kathleen Tone of Tillamook, Ore.; his brothers Marty Hughes of Clearwater, Fla., and Mike Hughes of Olalla, Kitsap County; and two grandchildren.

Remembrances may go to Northwest Hospital Childbirth Center, 1550 N. 115th St., Seattle, WA 98133; or to UNICEF, c/o The Bon Marche, Third Avenue and Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98101.