Charles Lee Hudson

1933 - 2014

HUDSON, Colonel, Charles Lee

Colonel Charles Lee Hudson, US Air Force (ret), died February 3 in Round Rock, Texas, from pneumonia at the age of 80.

Colonel Hudson was born on October 17, 1933 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to William Lee Hudson and Irene Byrd Hudson. He graduated from Sumrall High School, and then attended Mississippi State College where he majored in agriculture. He graduated with honors in 1954. While there, he joined the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, and was commissioned as an officer in 1955. In June of that year, he married the love of his life, Jacqueline Branton.

While in the Air Force he earned a bachelor of science, masters, and a PhD in electrical engineering. In addition to assignments in Mississippi, Japan, Pennsylvania, New York, and Colorado, he was assigned to the Air Force Systems command at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. In 1966, he served in Vietnam where he evaluated electronics equipment.

After retiring from the military in 1977, Colonel Hudson went on to hold executive positions at Honeywell in Minnesota and Illinois, TRW in Ohio, and at the Center for Manufacturing Excellence in Ann Arbor, MI. After retiring, he became a Master Gardener and enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers and sisters: Myrtle, Ben, Porter, Annie Maude, Vander, Vardaman, Emmitt, Austin, and Edsel.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline, his three children Karen (Harley Gee) of St. Paul, Minnesota; Charles Jr. (Marion) of Round Rock, Texas; and Kathy (Joe Palca) of Washington, D.C. as well as seven loving grandchildren Katherine, Elizabeth, Samuel, Laura, Jacob, Ellen, and Spencer. He will be greatly missed by the many who loved him.

Visitation will be held Friday February 7, 5-7 p.m, at the Hulett Winstead Sumrall Chapel in Sumrall, Mississippi. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Hulett Winstead Sumrall Chapel in Sumrall, Mississippi with internment to follow at the Columbia City Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.