ARDMORE, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Students, parents and staff of Lower Merion High School are mourning the loss of the school's principal after an accident Saturday morning.
A makeshift memorial was established outside the front entrance of the high school, bearing Sean Hughes' initials. Candles burned as students and parents left flowers, letters, jerseys and helmets in dedication.
Hughes served as principal at the high school for the last 14 years. He died in a car crash Saturday on Fleming Pike in Winslow Township, New Jersey, as he was taking his son Nolan to a soccer game. Nolan Hughes suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
District superintendent Dr. Khalid Mumin said Hughes was beloved by the thousands of students who passed through the halls during his tenure. That's a sentiment shared by Lower Merion parent and alum Bill Hillman.
"Never heard any of them say a bad word or complaint about him," said Hillman. "He had the respect of all the students, and that’s pretty rare, today."
Dan Wilson graduated from Lower Merion High School in 2016. He said Hughes had a big impact on the student body and was beloved by just about everyone.
"[He was] super engaging, knew just about every student's name, not only that interested in what every student had to offer as a guy who cared, quite frankly, a guy cared about everyone," he shared.
Wilson said during Hughes' tenure, the principal's popularity with his students grew to the point where students would greet him with an affectionate "Huuuughes" in the hallway.
"Suddenly Mr. Hughes just becomes 'Hughes,'" he recalled, "calling him [by his] last name like he's your friend."
Related
All 10 of the district's schools, along with COVID-19 clinics scheduled to take place within them, will be closed Monday according to Mumin. During this time, they are providing information on counseling for students and giving parents resources to talk to their children about what happened.
"It's an enormous hole because the Lower Merion School District is a family and we're losing a prominent member of the family, a leader, an influencer," said Mumin.
The district, its students and parents are remembering the message Hughes preached and lived by, which now adorns the memorial at the school - character counts.
"Your type of character might be developed there," said Wilson. "Whatever hand he could play in making sure you had a pure character and that you would go on to represent Lower Merion well was something he took very seriously."
Hughes is survived by his daughter Kate, sons Nolan and Jack and his wife Kristi.