Dan Hudson

Dan Eugene Hudson, 84, died suddenly at his home in rural Brady, Nebraska, late the afternoon of Wednesday, April 13, 2022.

He was born March 23, 1938, in Gothenburg, to Guy and Astrid (Johnson-Anderson) Hudson. After graduating from Brady High School in 1957, Dan joined the United States Navy (1958-1962), serving in the Pacific on the U.S.S. Destroyer Richard S. Edwards as a member of its first crew.

Following the Navy, he was a mechanic in Gothenburg, working at the local Ford dealership, operating the Husky Gas Station south of the Lake Avenue railroad tracks and working with his brother-in-law Bob Ollendorf in their shop. During this time, he saw much of North America by car.

He met Karen Joy Ross while working at the Ford dealership and the pair were married June 8, 1969. In 1972, he built and opened Dan’s Auto Service, which he operated as its sole proprietor until he retired in 2003.

Dan was an enthusiast. He loved science fiction, guns and marksmanship, hunting and fishing, eggs and pancakes for breakfast, and was an Amateur Radio operator, assembling HAM radio equipment from kits, building specialized antennas from schematics published in magazines, and sending computer code over the radio.

He encouraged a can-do attitude in other people, saying “If I can do it, how hard can it be?”

Dan was preceded in death by his parents and parents-in-law; brothers-in-law, Robert Ollendorf and John Coble; brother-in-law, Jim Ross; and many other friends and relatives.

Survivors include his wife, Karen Hudson of rural Brady; sisters, Ramona Ollendorf of Gothenburg and Sandra Coble of Cozad; son, David Lee Hudson and his fiancée Deanna Walz of Greenwood, Nebraska; son, Darin Gene Hudson of Grand Island; grandchildren Owen and Maggie Hudson, of the Westmont neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska, and Greenwood, Nebraska; and many others.

He was a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, where memorials may be sent in his name.

Visitation will be held at Blase-Strauser Memorial Chapel, Gothenburg, Wednesday. April 20, 2022 from 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM with family present from 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, April 21, 2022 at 10:30 AM at Blase-Strauser Memorial Chapel, 620 10th street, Gothenburg, with Rev. Brent Graves officiating.

Burial will follow in the Gothenburg Cemetery.