Ed 'Eddie' Hudson Jr.

Eddie Hudson Jr., age 84, passed away at San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital in Banning, California, with his son Maurice by his side, on the day after Christmas in 2019. He was born September 29, 1935, in Thomasville, Georgia, to Ed Hudson Sr., known as “Buster”, and Alice (Brown) Hudson, known as “Dear.” Eddie was raised in a modest ‘shotgun’ home with no interior plumbing, and was the oldest of four siblings (Paul, Eugene, Martha and Sonny). Eddie was extremely intelligent, and attended high school in Thomasville, where he lettered in basketball, football and baseball. After graduating, he worked in New York City before joining the U.S. Air Force. He received an honorable discharge in 1958, and went on to marry his first wife, Tracy Melcena, and move to the West Coast. In the early 1970s Los Angeles, Eddie met Sharon Swanigan, who became the mother of his only child (Maurice), after which he met and married the late Edna Hudson of Altadena, CA and then his ex-wife Toni Hudson of San Antonio, TX, thus becoming a beloved stepfather of five. Eddie, who wanted to become a police officer but—at only 135 pounds—did not meet the department’s weight requirement, started his career as a bus driver with RTD (now MTA), and retired after 29 years as a manager responsible for the operations of an office with over 100 employees. Although Eddie was separated from his son’s mother and later remarried, he heeded the admonition of his mother (“Dear”) to prioritize the relationship with his son, and made sure he saw his son Maurice nearly every Wednesday—a tradition that they continued right up until Wednesday, December 25, 2019. In addition to almost every kind of sports, Eddie’s hobbies and interests have always included a love of great music by artists such as Johnnie Taylor and James Brown, high-end cars (including a classic Pontiac GT, a Nissan 280 ZX, numerous Cadillacs and a Mercedes E500), fishing, dominoes, Southern cuisine (aka “soul food”), home-improvement, horse-races and games of chance—especially in Las Vegas. Eddie was also a renowned ladies’ man, whom women flirted with until his last days, believing him to be a man only in his 60s. Eddie is survived by his son Maurice Hudson and Maurice’s mother Sharon Swanigan, his stepchildren Charles (Jackson), Darrell (Peoples Sr.), Tanisha (Broadway) and Dalton (Toni Hudson’s son), his brother Eugene Hudson, his special companion Reneé Warren, and numerous nephews, nieces, cousins, extended family and life-long friends. The family welcomes you to join them in celebrating Eddie’s life at 10:30 am on Wednesday, January 22, 2020, at Weaver Chapel, 1177 Beaumont Avenue, Beaumont, CA 92223. At 1:45 pm, Eddie will be laid to rest with military honors at Riverside National Cemetery, after which friends and family will gather for repast at the adjacent Old Golf Course. Please visit dignitymemorial.com for details.