Jean Frances Hudson Wright died on 19 December 2017, at Huntsville Hospital, Huntsville, Alabama. She was born on 13 November 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to John Wood Hudson and Lucille Elliotte Hudson, both of whom predeceased her. Mr. and Mrs. Hudson were pioneers in the American automotive industry, with Mr. Hudson rising to a senior leadership position in Chevrolet. She was also predeceased by her husband COL (Ret.) Peter Wright, to whom she was married on 15 September 1951, at the Cathedral of Christ the King, in Atlanta.
Mrs. Wright was a graduate of Northside High School, Atlanta, Georgia, a student at Converse College, Spartanburg, South Carolina, and a 1950 graduate of the University of Georgia, majoring in Biology.
During their marriage, she and Colonel Wright were residents of Atlanta, Georgia, Dover, Delaware, and Huntsville, Alabama, with a second home at Sandestin, Florida.
As a young woman, she was a music student of the renowned Helen Boykin, and became an accomplished concert pianist. While Colonel Wright was deployed overseas to Germany during the Korean War, she served as a Department of the Army Civilian, working in a laboratory at Fort McPherson, Georgia. She and her husband were NASA pioneers at Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. She took pride in being an Army wife and four-time Blue Star Mother.
Mrs. Wright was a member of the Livingston sept of the Clan Royal Stewart. She was also a descendant of a Revolutionary War veteran and of both Federal and Confederate soldiers and a Confederate nurse serving during the Civil War.
She was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority and served as a national officer. She was a founding member of several Huntsville area civic and social organizations, to include the Fleming Meadows Garden Club, The Garden Club of Huntsville – Madison County, the Huntsville Women’s Club and the Gothic Guild, for which she played a prominent role in organizing cotillions. She and her husband were founding members of Holy Spirit Catholic Church and School, in Huntsville. They were also early supporters of theatre and the arts in Huntsville, and hosted many parties for visiting cast members. She was a consummate hostess, and one of her proudest moments was when the renowned actor, Robert Alda, having consumed her cheese grits at one of the cast parties, pronounced it the best thing he’d ever eaten. She was also well-known for her Hello Dollies, mint brownies and chocolate tortes, all favorites at cotillions.
Survivors include her children, LTC (Ret.) Jean-Marie C. Wright and husband, Robert E. Ziegler, of Virginia, Teresa A. Wright and husband, Michael Miller, of Florida, COL (Ret.) John T. Wright and wife, Tammy L. Wright, of Madison, Alabama, Carol E. Vernon, of Huntsville, Alabama, Peter H. Wright and wife, Dr. C. Rena W. Wright, of Huntsville, and Paul C. Wright, of Huntsville; grandchildren, Holly A. Wright, Allison M. Wright, Abby M. Wright, Catherine E. Vernon, Timothy M. Wright, Shelby Webb, Tyler Webb, Troy M. Miller and his wife, Angie Miller, Stephen M. Miller, Lauren M. Miller, Dr. Heidi E. Ziegler and her partner, Dennis C. Ertsman, and Mara L. Z. Conners and her husband, Michael E. Conners; great-grandchildren, Kylee Chapman, Channing Hill, Ellie Miller, Chloe Miller, Luke Miller, Evan M. Conners and Wesley G. Conners; her close cousins, Margie M. I. Harrison Whiteside, Nonie Redus Swader, Margaret Wood Mulligan, Nedom Haley and John Haley. She is mourned also by lifelong friends Nancy Fiberkorn Davis, Emory Schwall, Henry Adams, her many friends in Huntsville and Sandestin, and by Alpha Chi Omega members in Alabama and Georgia.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 2:00 PM, on Wednesday, 27 December 2017, by Fr. Michael MacMahon, at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 625 Airport Road, Huntsville, Alabama 35802. Visitation for family and friends will be held at the church, beginning one hour prior to the service. Internment in the family plot at Maple Hill Cemetery will follow the service. The family is being assisted by Laughlin Service of Huntsville. (www.laughlinservice.com)
Pallbearers will be COL (Ret.) John T. Wright, Peter H. Wright, Paul C. Wright, Michael R. Miller, Roy Smith, Justin Wiley, and Ryan Whitlock. Honorary Pallbearers are Robert E. Ziegler, MG (Ret.) Grayson Tate, Emory Schwall, Nedom Haley, Henry Adams, Thomas Shoup, and The Hags of Alpha Chi Omega.
The family wishes to thank the staff of Huntsville Hospital for its kind treatment of Mrs. Wright, especially the staff of the ER and CCU II. In lieu of flowers, donations in Mrs. Wright’s name may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, American Cancer Society, and The Shepherd Center.
