Sally (Sara Bloom) Hudson
1922 — 2013
Sally Hudson (Sara Louise Bloom) passed away peacefully on Aug. 31, 2013 in Bellingham, Wash.; her heart, always both gentle and strong, had finished its work.
She was predeceased by her husband, Frank Hudson, who passed away some six weeks earlier, by her parents, and her siblings Ruth, Betty, and Maynard. She is survived by her son Chip Hudson of Portland, Ore., his wife Angela Van Patten and their children Amelia and Caroline; by her daughter Jean Hudson of Milwaukee, Wisc. and her daughter Lily; and by her daughter Char Hart of Bellingham, her husband Chris and their children Shelby and Madison.
Sally was born in Curwensville, Penn. in 1922, the youngest child of Ashley Maynard Bloom and Jean Harris Bloom. She was valedictorian as well as a cheerleader for her high school, which is where she and Frank first met.
As a young woman she attended the Carnegie Technical College in Pittsburgh, where she pursued professional training as a secretary in conjunction with her liberal arts education. After completing her Bachelor of Science degree she worked for a shipping company in Manhattan.
During the 1940s she joined another secretary for a cross-country road trip, which resulted in several interesting secretarial positions in California and Arizona, including work at the Flying V Ranch near Tucson, at the Alisal Ranch near Santa Barbara, and as part of the secretarial team for author Erle Stanley Gardner (of Perry Mason fame).
In 1949, after a long-distance friendship that spanned the years since high school and a world war, Sally, with encouragement from Frank, took a secretarial job for a shipping company in Honolulu, Hawaii, where Frank was pursuing graduate work. He proposed and they were married in the fall of 1950, much to the delight of immediate and extended family who had watched their long courtship.
Together Sally and Frank raised a family, moving between their home in Virginia and Frank’s overseas postings in Taiwan and Vietnam. Never shying away from a challenge, she navigated living in a foreign land and took a position teaching English to local college students.
Since they both shared a love of the sea, upon Frank’s retirement they chose Friday Harbor as their new home. Sally never really retired as she continued to create the warm home that was always a comfort to Frank, and to their children when they returned for the holidays.
Sally enjoyed the small town sense of community that Friday Harbor offered. She worked as a secretary for Krabbe & Starr Surveyors and volunteered for many years at the San Juan Island Library, and was a longtime member of the Presbyterian Church, serving as Sunday School teacher, church secretary and elder.
Sally enjoyed long morning walks and gardening, and was a wicked player of any word game. She and Frank both enjoyed boating, travel and the company of good friends.
Sally had an unassuming way that put others at ease. Her steadfast love for her family, her readiness for adventure, her patient good humor, unwavering faith and inner strength will be forever remembered by those who have known her.
Sally’s children would like to sincerely thank family and friends for their prayers and support these past few months.
They also wish to thank the many devoted caregivers at Shuksan and Mount Baker Care Centers in Bellingham, as well as Hospice of Whatcom County, for the compassion and care that was shown to their mother.
A Celebration of Life will be held for both Frank and Sally on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. at Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church, 425 Spring Street, Friday Harbor, WA 98250. Interment will be at a later time at Arlington National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in Sally’s memory to either Friday Harbor Presbyterian Church, 425 Spring St., Friday Harbor, WA 98250 or to The Nature Conservancy, Attn: Treasury (Honorary Giving), 4245 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203, USA. (800) 628-6860.
—Family of Sally Hudson
