Sharon Hudson

Our loving mother and grandmother, Sharon Henderson Hudson, passed away peacefully in her sleep in the early morning of November 30, 2025, after having recently celebrated her 95th birthday. She passed away at home while under in-home hospice care after being diagnosed with cancer in October.

Mom was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on November 22, 1930, to Rulon Henderson and Ardath Hill Henderson. She went to Emerson Grade School, O.E. Bell Junior High School, and IF High School. During these childhood years, with sisters, Darlene and Rochelle, the family spent the summers at the Big Springs Inn in Island Park, which they ran and co-owned with other family members, and where mom regularly was put to work to help clean the rental cabins and help in the store with her grandparents. She loved these childhood years and the special spot at Big Springs and spoke of them fondly over the years. In 1947, the family bought land on nearby Moose Creek, along with many other aunts and uncles, and where our granddad began building a cabin that became a special place for mom, her sisters, and several generations of family.

In 1949, Mom started college at the University of Idaho in Moscow, where she majored in Art and Theatre, graduating in 1953. She split her time and energies between performing in and helping with play productions, and with her art studies. She enjoyed the comradery and life-long friendships she made during these years. During her college summers, she enjoyed working at various spots around Yellowstone Park in the Hamilton Stores, where she made many friends and memories.

After graduation in 1953, she returned to Idaho Falls and traveled to and from Pocatello to teach art for a year. She met our father, Dewey Hudson, at a New Year’s party later that year, and they were subsequently married in July 1954. They settled in Idaho Falls, where Dad worked at the family-owned Hudson’s Shoes Store. In the late 1950’s, Mom designed our mid-century style house, which was built mostly by Granddad Henderson, during the winter of 1960-61. They subsequently had three children while living in the house prior to Dad’s early death in 1962. She was a young widow at 31 years old with three children to raise.

During the late 1960s to late 1970s, Mom began teaching art at Claire E. Gale Jr. High, followed by work at Ahlstrom’s Furniture Store as an interior decorator. In the 1980s, she began teaching adult education art classes in town. During all these years, she also managed to paint and draw, continued to take classes with the Art Guild from their visiting artists, and began graduate work at Idaho State University and Rick’s College. She enjoyed learning aspects of art technique from these visiting artists and professors about composition, design, and color, as well as how to use the various mediums of acrylic paints, oils, and pastels.

In 1989, Mom moved to Southern California to be near family, where she worked as a substitute teacher in the Arcadia School District, a docent in the Norton Simon Museum, and taught Adult Education classes in art at Pasadena City College. She also was included as part of a show at the Sierra Madre Gallery. In the late 1990’s, Mom moved to Taos, NM., where she continued to paint, and enjoyed being in an art center with a rich artistic history, surrounded by other artists and cultures. She subsequently was able to show her work in the Bean Gallery.

In 2012, she decided to move back to Idaho Falls, where she has spent her final years. She kept busy by continuing to paint and draw, as well as writing and publishing a well-researched book, entitled, “Passageway to the Pacific is the Snake River—but Lewis and Clark didn’t know that.” She was able to place the book in many places around Island Park and West Yellowstone for sale. Up until the end, she had a very curious mind, with an extensive knowledge of ancient history, and could easily discuss the history of the Celts, Anglo Saxons, and the lines and heritage of the British Monarchs, along with other interests in art history.

Mom was a long-standing member of the LDS church and served in many capacities in various wards through the years.

She leaves behind her three children, Suzanne Hudson Webb, of Bremerton, WA, Cynthia Hudson Combe,

of Temple City, CA, and Mitchell Hudson, of Chicago, IL. She also leaves behind, 10 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren; and a lifetime of artwork.

Services will be at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 6, 2025, at the Idaho Falls LDS 14th Ward, 651 Gladstone Street. A visitation for family and friends will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. prior to the services at the church. Burial will be in Rose Hill Cemetery.