Wesley Byron Hudson went home to be with his Lord and Savior in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 19th, 2020. Wes was able to spend his final hours at home in the presence of his wife and two daughters.
He was preceded in death by his parents Wynton Byron and Eliza Jane, his brother Mickey, and his sister Joann. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Karon Voigt Hudson of Austin TX; two daughters, Marian Hinton (John) of Rowlett, TX, and Casey Scheler (Josh) of Lexington, TX; three grandchildren, Drew Hinton, Brooke and Jake Scheler; and his sister Linda Courtier of Hemphill, TX.
Wes was born in Longview, TX, on April 10, 1946. After moving several times, his family finally arrived in Lockhart, TX, where he met Karon Voigt. After graduating from Lockhart High School together in1964, the two high school sweethearts were married on July 24, 1965. Soon after, Wes joined the United States Air Force, where he served at Mildenhall Air Force Base in England and Paine Field in Everett, Washington during the Vietnam War. After discharge he continued his education at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Criminology with extensive emphasis in psychology and sociology.
They finally settled in Austin, TX, where they would later raise their two daughters.
Wes served Travis County as a court appointed probation officer for 18 years and a state parole officer for 20 years.
At the time of his death, he was a deacon at Austin Baptist Church, a church he loved dearly.
Wes was a husband, father, grandfather and friend, and remembered in many different ways by many different people. Yet when most think of him, a few commonalities come to mind: the scent of his cherry-vanilla pipe tobacco from his younger days, his larger-than-life sense of humor, his self-proclaimed food expertise (you can’t count the number of times he’d finally discovered “the best chicken fried steak I’ve ever had”), and his tall tales (until his dying day, he insisted that he was the inventor of Whataburger’s jalapeno burger and the reason that Scholtzsky’s decided to expand).
To some, he will be affectionately remembered as the fiery yet soft-hearted soccer coach (who may or may not have been tossed out of a few games), the funniest and best kickball umpire ever, a “second dad” to many, and the man who loved the Texas Longhorns, particularly Texas Baseball.
To others he will be remembered as the man who devoted his life to loving everyone around him, the youth and college Sunday School teacher who never shied away from telling you what he believed God thought you should hear, and the friend you knew that you could count on in a moment's notice.
To his grandkids, he will be remembered simply as “Granddad”—the man who attended as many sports events and plays as possible, who would talk for hours about classic country and gospel music, and who would sit and watch countless hours of children’s movies with them.
To his daughters, he will be remembered as the father who at times worked three jobs—at all hours of the day and night—to give his kids everything they wanted. Wes was the dad who did everything he could to be involved in the things they loved: He learned the rules of a sport he knew nothing about so he could be the coach. He stayed up all night to work on last minute school projects and book reports. He showed them how to keep score on a baseball card, shared with them many funny and not-so-funny jokes, but most importantly, he taught his girls the importance of loving Jesus and others.
Finally, he will be remembered as the husband of 55 years who always supported his wife’s sometimes-hectic career and always (at least according to him) let her have her way. In their later years, they traveled together and spent quiet evenings at home playing cards (even though he’d complain that she was the luckiest person on the planet).
Most of all, however, he will be remembered as the man who provided us all with the image of what sacrificial love truly looks like.
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