While most of the students at LM knew him as Mr. Hughes or HUUUUGHES … to me, for the last 21 years he was simply Sean. Sean—my friend, my mentor, and my principal. I am lucky to say that I have had the privilege of working alongside Sean for my entire 21-year career at LM. I first began teaching at LM in January of 2002 at the age of 22, and I remember feeling very overwhelmed in a high school setting because I always thought I was meant to teach in an elementary school setting. When the opportunity at LM presented itself, I went for it and have never looked back. Sean was one of the first welcoming and friendly staff members I met at LM. He was teaching History just a few rooms down the hall from me that first year, and we connected almost immediately about the fact that we had both grown up in nearby Havertown and had both gone through twelve years of Catholic school. Sean had gone through St. Dots while I was at neighboring St. Denis, and even though he was a few years older, his Catholic school experience was just the same. From there, Sean went to Cardinal O’Hara and I went to Archbishop Carroll. The schools are long-time rivals, much like Radnor and LM, so we would joke about being from rival schools. I watched him move from teacher to Assistant Athletic Director to Athletic Director to Assistant Principal and then eventually he became Principal fourteen years ago. Sean loved LM! He poured his heart and soul into our school every single day. Sean’s greatest legacy will be the motto that he taught to years and years of LM students: your “Character Counts” and that, over everything else, being a good person and taking care of one another is what is most important. Sean was a genuine family man and he cared about each and every staff member and our families. He was the exact kind of boss people pray for. His leadership was unmatchable, and over these last few weeks, it has been so hard to come into our home without him. I just want to say: Thank You, Sean. Thank you for all you did for each and every one of us. You will be forever missed and loved. At the end of the day, Sean believed that what really mattered was making connections, taking care of each other, and being a person of strong character. That is what Sean instilled in all of us as educators and I will be forever grateful that I had the opportunity to work with and alongside him for as many years as I did. Sean, you will forever be our number one ACE! We love you and we miss you!
