Amy Pudvin Erwin, 57, was a force of nature (not entirely hyperbole). Passionate and opinionated, she was a business leader, athlete, community advocate, builder, artist, and preservationist. Most importantly to her, she was a mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend.
An Atlanta native, Amy attended Henderson High School and then Vanderbilt University, where she earned a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Civil Engineering in 1983 and was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. Upon graduation, Amy became a business leader who successfully navigated the turmoil that was the telecommunications industry over the last 25 years. She worked for AT&T in several different positions where she met her first husband Daniel Erwin before moving to Vertek Corporation as a Sales Director and then ultimately to Cox Communications. She was unfazed by her diagnosis of multiple myeloma in 2008 and continued working as Vice President of Carrier and National Accounts ultimately retiring from Cox Communications in 2011.
Amy and Dan had an adventurous life – parachuting together on their first date. The couple biked across Italy and traveled through Ireland and Ecuador. They biked competitively and frequently went rock-climbing and canoeing together. In 1993, their son Max Daniel Erwin was born. Shortly after the birth of Max, Amy met another young mother, Mary Albers, who also had a son named Max. Amy and Mary became fast friends and before long Amy and Dan became close friends with Mary and her husband, Elliott. The two families vacationed together and had family dinners together nearly every Friday night. Unfortunately, Mary succumbed to breast cancer in 2004, but after Mary’s death, Amy, Dan, Elliott and the Maxes continued their close relationship until Dan’s untimely death in a motorcycle accident in Yellowstone National Park in 2008.
Over the next several years the families remained close and Amy and Elliott added romance to their friendship and were eventually married in 2011. Amy and Elliott enjoyed traveling and spending time at their beach home in Watercolor, Florida. Amy also traveled with her many close friends including a hike in and out of the Grand Canyon with her longtime Vanderbilt chums. In addition to helping the Maxes through high school and college, Amy dedicated a great deal of her time to her community. She was active with the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance, where she worked hard to save protected land and historic sites. She was also very active with the Candler Park Conservancy, engaging in a wide range of activities such as soliciting funds to purchase chairs for Candler Park Pool, and planting flowers to beautify the park.
Her passion for saving things of beauty was endless. She loved trees and anyone in the area trying to remove a tree without proper permits found Amy’s ire. She also worked hard to save the Pinebloom Mansion built in 1914 on South Ponce de Leon. Her efforts, along with those of others, were instrumental in getting Pinebloom placed on the Places of Peril list of the The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. Her concern, compassion and activism also extended to the field of politics. She was a woman saddened and outraged by the political immorality, corruption, and hypocrisy that has arisen in our country since 2016.
Amy’s strength, grit, intelligence, wit, beauty and compassion will be greatly missed by so many. She leaves behind countless friends, her son Max Erwin, stepson Maxwell Albers, husband Dr. Elliott Albers, step-mother Margaret Pudvin, sister Nancy Gore (husband Mike), brother Jay Pudvin, and nieces Gracie and Olivia Pudvin (all from the Atlanta area). She will also be missed by her loving pup Ruggles. On August 25th, the family will be receiving friends at noon with a service following at 1 p.m. at H.M. Patterson and Son Funeral Home, 1020 Spring Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30309. In lieu of flowers please donate to Winship Cancer Institute to support the research of Dr. Sagar Lonial, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University,1440 Clifton Road NE, Suite 170, Atlanta, GA 30322-4207 or to The Conservation Fund, 1655 N. Fort Myer Dr, Suite 1300, Arlington, VA 22209.
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