Brenda Mae Sailors Hudson died June 15, 2025, in Huntsville, Alabama. She was born October 7, 1940, in Coshocton, Ohio and was 84 years old at her death.
The service to celebrate her life will be Monday, June 30th at 1:00 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, Florence, AL, with the Rev. Jake Andrews officiating. Her ashes will be placed in the Memorial Garden at the church following the service. Visitation for family and friends will follow in Mullen Hall.
Brenda was born to the late Tollie and Hettie Sailors. Before moving to Florence in 1951, she and her family lived in Coshocton, Ohio, Clinton, Kentucky and Memphis, Tennessee. She attended Appleby Junior High and graduated from Coffee High School in 1958. She attended Mississippi State College for Women and graduated from Florence State College, now the University of North Alabama.
She married the late Gerald Blake “Tuffy” Hudson, of Tuscumbia, Alabama, on May 5, 1962, and moved to Huntsville. She has two sons, Gerald Blake Hudson Jr. and Benjamin Marshall Hudson. In 1978 the family moved back to Florence.
Brenda hosted several gatherings and events for family and friends at home. In the early 1980s she held an annual Thanksgiving Eve Party for her sons visiting home during college. Brenda and Tuffy also gathered at their home with friends for UNA’s Homecoming for several years. Playing bridge with her friends was an activity she enjoyed immensely.
Brenda loved getting together with friends and attending social events. She was a Nenon. She was crowned Homecoming Queen of both Coffee High School in 1958 and at Florence State College in 1960.
Brenda was also well known throughout the Shoals for helping people decorate and furnish their homes. She worked at Lazy Boy Furniture, Royal Furniture, Heilig Meyers, Posey Furniture, and Barnett and Brown.
She photographed, sorted, and collected thousands of stills of her family that span nearly a century. Photographs include the families of the Sailors, Hudsons, Fortners, Beechs, Lockes, and others.
Above all else, she was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Tuffy Hudson, and sisters, Ann Sailors Harris and husband, Marvin Eugene Harris Jr., and Nancy Sailors Potts and husband, Robert Malcom Potts.
She is survived by her sons, Blake Hudson and wife, Pollyanna Hunt Hudson, of Huntsville, and Benjamin Hudson and wife, Cathleen Fink Hudson of Birmingham; four grandchildren, Harrison Hunt Hudson, Benjamin Marshall Hudson Jr., Claudia Ann Hudson, and Lucy Cathryn Hudson; and many nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to Trinity Episcopal Church, 410 N. Pine St., Florence, AL 35630.
