Kelly B. Hudson

Kelly Burton Hudson was born on May 28, 1954, the second child of Howard E. Hudson and Janet Darlene Hays Hudson and named after his uncle, James Burton Hays.  He was born at the Caldwell General Hospital on Main Street in Caldwell, KS and the family lived east of Caldwell until Kelly was 3 years old, at which time they moved to N Osage Street.

Kelly’s grade school years were spent playing with the neighborhood kids in the one way park, swimming at the local pool, riding bikes around town, and spending time at the family farm.   During his high school years, Kelly was active in football, basketball, and various clubs and organizations at Caldwell High School.

 He graduated from CHS with the class of 1972.  During the summer months he drove a tractor for various farmers in the area, and he worked at the Caldwell Sale Barn on Saturdays.  

Following graduation, Kelly moved to Tulsa, OK where he attended Spartan School of Aeronautics.  He married Sherry Gaston in 1974.  Kelly joined the U.S. Army in 1978 and after completing boot camp at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO he was stationed at Torii Station, Okinawa, Japan for 3 years.  While serving in Japan, his daughter, Tracy Michelle, was born.  The family returned to Tulsa, Ok in 1978 and he attended Tulsa Junior College.  It was while attending college that he answered an ad he pulled from a bulletin board at the school that led to the next 34 years of foreign service with the CIA.

In 1987, while in Granada, British West Indies, he married Gabrielle Summa and together they had three children, Anjuli Jacqueline, Dillon Michael, and Patrick Kelly.

Kelly was posted in many places around the world, which gave him the opportunity to visit many more.  Following an illustrious 34 year career with the CIA, he retired in 2012.  By the end of his career, Kelly had met countless dignitaries from around the world, traveled over 6 continents, and lived in many major cities.  Some of those include his first assignment Katmandu, Calcutta, Islamabad, Karachi, Kabul, Seoul, Tokyo, Riyadh, and his last assignment, London, England.

Kelly was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) in 2007 and made many trips to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX from as far away as London, England.

In April of 2014, Kelly’s life came full circle when he moved back to Caldwell just two doors down from where he grew up on North Osage when he reunited with his high-school sweetheart and soulmate, Gayla Lee.  They were married on September 12th, and for the next 10 months they lived, laughed, loved, and enjoyed everything that small town life had to offer.

Kelly fought his cancer battle with courage and dignity.  He left this life on Saturday, July 11, 2015,  he was 61 years old. He leaves behind his wife, Gayla, sons Dillon (Calah), and Patrick, daughters Tracy (Eric), and Anjuli (Ryan), step-daughter, Jillian Crumbliss (Richard), step-son, Brett Oathout (Cara) step-grandchildren Piper, Richie, and Marrin Crumbliss, mother, Darlene Lowry, brother Joel (Kelly D.), and many aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, July 17, 2015, 10:00 a.m., at the First Presbyterian Church, Caldwell, Ks.  Pastor Natalie Dixon-Crewell will officiate.

Interment will be in the Caldwell, City Cemetery, Caldwell.

Memorials can be made to the CHS Alumni Association’s General Fund or to a charity of your choice.

To share a memory or leave a condolence please visit www.schaeffermortuary.info

Arrangements by Schaeffer Mortuary, 6 N. Main, Caldwell.