Classmate Bio

Tottenville High School  (1957)

Mt. Loretto (1951 - 1957)

Billy Hough

   Written: February, 2004

At the age of 12, I became a ward of the state due to my mother's illness and was taken to live at Mt. Loretto along with my brother, Edwin (Ned) Hough. I worked the dairy farm while attending St. Joseph's vocational school as well as Tottenville High School. I made many friends, some of which I still retain a close bond with.

In 1957 I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and proudly served until 1963 when I became a member of the Baltimore Police Department. I served the City of Baltimore as a patrolman, detective, K9 officer and a tactical squad member.

During this time, I was married, had two daughters and divorced in 1969.

Realizing that single life was not for me, I remarried and moved to Lumberton, North Carolina with my new wife Janice and our daughter, Trina. I have resided in Lumberton with my wife's Lumbee Native American tribal community for over 30 years.

In North Carolina, I continued my military career in the reserves while also employed as an environmental lab technician. I retired from both in 1999.

My wife and I are members of Morning Star Baptist church where I am a Sunday school teacher. My hobbies included RVing with my family and friends as well as collecting Marine Corp memorabilia, and catching up with my buddies from my days at the Mount.

I have lived a blessed life that has been full of happiness, enrichment and love, but there have also been a few lows.

In 1992, a simple stress test administered as a requirement for the military showed I had massive artery blockage. I was rushed to Duke Hospital where I underwent triple bypass, open-heart surgery. I am happy to report, I recovered in remarkable time and have had no heart problems since.

Other problems did arise. In 1998, a PSA test detected prostate cancer that had come very close to spreading, but was caught just in time to be removed through a radical prostectomy. I had once again beaten the odds. My recovery was quick and I was back to my normal activities within weeks. I was truly blessed because I was told I had cancer and within 2 weeks it was removed and that was it. It was almost too good to be true.

Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. In March, 2003 during a routine colonoscopy, physicians discovered rectal cancer. Although my family and I were shocked, we were accustomed to fast recoveries and fantastic results. Why would this be any different, we hoped optimistically. Because the cancer was in advanced stages I was treated with chemo and radiation (administered together on a daily bases). Miraculously, the treatments never made me sick or fatigued. The doctors were amazed. I was the only patient they knew that GAINED weight while taking cancer treatments.

The next step was to undergo surgery that initially went very well; I was cancer free. But then there were complications. I had to have several additional procedures and had to be re-hospitalized on two different occasions due to infection. I was bed ridden for months and miserable. I am still recovering, but regain my strength more and more every day. I have one additional surgery in the near future and should be back to normal soon.

Please keep my family and me in your prayers and I look forward to seeing everyone at the next reunion.

Billy Hough