Ellen Hudson

She was born in Nashville, TN on July 6,1928 to Kate Badger and James William “Will” Warner, Jr. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Thomas McLean Hudson and brother J. W. “Billy” Warner III. She is survived by son Thomas McLean Hudson, Jr. (Lili); daughter Kate Hudson Regan (Mike); grandchildren Michael David Regan, Jr. (Abby), Ellen Regan Fink (Robby) of Atlanta, GA, Florence Elise Hudson (Josh Kachnycz) of Phil-adelphia, PA and Thomas McLean Hudson III of Evanston, IL; great-grandchildren Rosie Regan, Nora Regan, Hudson Fink, William Fink, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Ellen graduated from Ward Belmont High School and attended Sweet Briar College before she met her kind, patient and generous, “Tom,” married and made a wonderful life together in Nashville. She was a charter member of Westminster Presbyterian Church where she taught Sunday school, was a circle leader, delivered meals on wheels and was a long standing flower committee member. Her active community volunteer leadership roles included UGF (United Way), The Junior League of Nashville, The Junior League Home for Crippled Children, The Ladies Hermitage Association, The Cumberland Museum and Science Center (Adventure Science Museum), The Monday Writer’s Group, The Friday Literary Club, The Garden Club of Nashville, and The Stoney Crest Garden Club. She was a member of The Centennial Club and The Belle Meade Country Club.

Ellen delighted in creating family traditions like Rock School and Follow The String to entertain the little ones in her festive home celebrations, as well as in creating broader family adventures from as far north as the Alaskan glaciers to the southern wilds of Africa. She filled in her calendar with reg-ular gatherings of friends for cards, dinners and outings to the theater and symphony. She never missed a Vanderbilt home football or basketball game, as a long-time season ticket holder. She au-thored three books, Felix, Meely and the Trees (exploring family lore) and I Live in a Zoo (sharing the laments of many a gardener). With a keen eye, she took her love of gardening to create paint-ings of floral close-ups to landscape vistas from her travels. These paintings now grace the walls of countless families’ and friends’ homes. Sitting at the duplicate bridge table, she was able to elevate her skills and achieve a Life Master rank. And, even into her latter days, she continued her love of learning by watching the birds outside her window with a well-worn bird identification book at the ready.

The Hudson and Regan families extend a special thanks to Patrice Campbell, Diane Hadden, Mary Johnson, Tosha McClain, Renee Minnis, TJ Murphy, Donisha Perry and Rita Sawyers (posthu-mously) for their years of loyal service in “GranEllen’s" daily care.

A memorial service was held at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 3900 West End Avenue Nashville, TN on Monday, March 27th with the Reverand Heidi Hudnut-Beumler officiating. A private burial service was held at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church 3900 West End Avenue, Nashville, TN 37205, Cheekwood Estate and Gardens, 1200 Forrest Park Drive, Nashville, TN 37205 or a charity of your choice.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.marshalldonnellycombs.com for the Hudson family.