Bobbie Jo Hudson, 89, of Lampasas, TX, passed away peacefully on February 7, 2021. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend. Bobbie will be sorely missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.
Bobbie Jo Carroll was born on May 3, 1931, in Gatesville, TX, to Weldon Dennis Sr. and Nancy Kathryn Carroll. Her family eventually settled in Temple, TX, and Bobbie graduated from Temple High School in 1948. She continued her education at Bethany Nazarene College in Bethany, Oklahoma, where she met her future husband, Billy Joe Hudson. The pair married on January 23, 1949, and they had four children in the next five years. Bobbie was a very busy young wife and mother.
Bill returned to active duty with the US Army during the Korean War, including assignments in Louisiana, Georgia, and California. These frequent military moves began a lifetime of travel for Bobbie and her family. After the war, the family moved often for Bill’s work in the construction field, including a total of 11 cities in six different states. Bobbie visited all 50 states – most with her husband, Bill – and seven countries during her lifetime of travel. She flew over Machu Picchu in Peru, cruised the Yangtze River in China, walked tulip farms of the Netherlands, toured Stonehenge, rode the Chunnel from England to France, and visited holy sites in Israel, to name but a few memorable trips.
Bobbie often said she had worked too many jobs to even begin to list them. In addition to being a wife and mother to four children, she was an excellent and faithful volunteer for many organizations, including Girls Scouts, Red Cross, Salvation Army, and numerous public schools. She devoted herself to a broad range of arts and hobbies, including stained glass, painting, sewing, gardening, writing, and golf. She wrote a collection of stories from her life and was in the process of publishing a book in her later years. Both Bobbie and Bill were excellent golfers and played some of the most beautiful courses in the Carolinas and Georgia. She was a lifelong learner with an inquisitive mind and an excellent memory.
Bobbie was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 47 years, Billy Joe Hudson of Lampasas, TX; her brother, Weldon Dennis Carroll, Jr., of Wichita Falls, TX; and her daughter, Susan Burgdorfer of Lampasas, TX. She is survived by her sister, Kay Vann of Temple, TX; her daughter, Carol Phillips of Smithville, TX; her daughter, Nanci Lawson and husband Robert of San Diego, CA; her son, Steve Hudson and wife Becky of Lampasas, TX; and eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
In her later years, she reconnected with a young love and had nine years of great companionship with the late Forrest Terry of Superior, WI.
Her wishes to be cremated will be honored. Due to travel restrictions, a memorial service is tentatively scheduled for summer. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Salvation Army of Lampasas in Bobbie’s honor.
