Jean Elizabeth (Becker) Hudson

Jean Elizabeth Hudson, 82, passed away September 7, 2023. She was in hospice at MorningStar Senior Living Center in Idaho Falls, and under the care of her loving family.

Jean was born February 4, 1941, in Evanston, Illinois, to Herman Theodore Becker and Muriel Winifred Sheach Becker. She grew up and attended schools in Park Ridge, Illinois, graduating from Maine West High School. As a young women, Jean and her sister, Louise, trained as ice skaters, and they performed together professionally at a John Deere tractor convention in Dallas, Texas.

Jean attended the University of Denver where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology. Some of the hospitals she worked at included St. Anthony’s in Denver, Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, both in Colorado, and Shoshone Medical Center in Kellogg, Idaho.

On December 30, 1963, Jean married Errol Kent Hudson in Denver, Colorado. Kent’s jobs took him all over the country, and Jean organized the family’s moves to Pinehurst, Idaho; Burnsville, Minnesota; Alpharetta, Georgia; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Ogden, Utah; Victor, Montana; and back to Loveland, Colorado. In each new place, she found community through P.E.O., an organization dedicated to the education of women. She served as treasurer for six years for P.E.O. Chapter AF in Montana. She also volunteered at LDS libraries, taught genealogy, and helped many relatives and friends learn more about their family histories.   

Early in their marriage, Kent taught the city girl how to use a shotgun. On one particular hunt, they slowly moved up on a duck pond with their Irish Setter, Flame, who was imitating Jean’s way of crawling – Jean was 7 months pregnant at the time. A few years later, they hunted pheasants in southern Colorado, sending the kids into (dry) irrigation ditches to flush the birds.

Because Kent commuted 90 miles round trip between their 15-acre farm and Denver, Jean managed day-to-day irrigation and animal care while raising two kids. 

An accomplished seamstress, knitter, and crafter, Jean made many cherished dresses and sweaters for Ryan. She made Brad a stained-glass window featuring a ski racer.

An avid reader, Jean consumed thousands of books ranging from Barbara Cartland romances to westerns by Louis L’Amour and mysteries by Dick Francis.

Jean’s genealogy research enriched family travels. At Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park she was able to access records that allowed her and Kent to retrace the footsteps of southern family members who fought in the Civil War. 

Jean served as secretary and treasurer of Hudson Metallurgical, Kent’s consulting business based in Ogden, Utah.

Upon retirement, Kent and Jean built their dream home on a mountainside in Montana, and enjoyed 22 years there until the property became too much to maintain. During the height of the Covid pandemic in August 2020, Jean and Kent moved back to Colorado to a continuing care community. Unfortunately, after a corporate merger, the community discontinued memory care support just as Jean was beginning to need it. In January 2023, Jean and Kent moved to Idaho Falls to be near their son.

Jean is survived by her loving husband, Kent; son, Brad (Wendy) Hudson of Ammon, ID; daughter, Ryan Jill (Mike Cicerone) Hudson of Ann Arbor, MI; sister, Louise Halperin of Greendale, WI; and granddaughters, Hayley Hudson and Hannah Hudson  of Boise, ID.

No services will be held.

The family asks those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to the P.E.O. Star Scholarship in memory of Jean Elizabeth Hudson.