Doris Gertrude Hudson, 91, passed from this life on Nov. 6, 2012, at Manor Care Health Services in Denver, Colo.
She was born April 24, 1921, in Riverside, Texas, to Gertie and Elmor Lutes. She was one of eight children from that union.
She was introduced on a blind date to her husband of over 67 years, Wiley Joe Hudson, engaged on Christmas Day, 1940, and married in Dallas, Texas, in March of 1941. They had two children: Joanna Darlene Hudson, and Steven Howard Hudson.
She was an active homemaker, served on the Episcopal Women’s Auxiliary in various churches, and a talented artist in both oil and pastels. She followed her husband to Colorado in 1959 to establish a guest ranch, The Golden Burro Lodge, in Blanco Basin, outside Pagosa Springs. After several years, she ran for and was elected to the position of Archuleta County Judge. She was the first female non-lawyer county judge in the history of Colorado. She was nominated for and awarded a position in the Who’s Who of American Women.
She retired to Mesa, Ariz., with her husband and got involved in antique and collectible redistribution.
Following the death of her husband, she moved to Denver to be near her beloved family.
She was preceded in death by her parents, six of her siblings and her husband. She is survived by her older brother, Leonard Lutes, of Dallas, Texas, numerous nephews and nieces, her daughter, Joanna D. Hudson, of Aurora, Colo., her son, Steven H. Hudson and daughter-in-law Mary Lou of Durango, Colo., two grandsons, four great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson.
Cremation has occurred with dispersal in the Colorado mountains that she loved. No services were scheduled per her request.
