Hudson, Lincoln
Linc passed away at home in Golden Valley, MN on October 15, 2020 at 96 years young. He was predeceased by wives Virginia Fowler Hudson and Leora Ito. His surviving family includes son Doug (Mary) Hudson, daughters Janet (Stuart) Ammerman and Carol (Marsh) Galloway, stepson T. Peter Hatori and stepdaughter Kameo (Fernando) Calvario, as well as 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was proud of them all.
Linc grew up with three siblings in South Bend, Indiana. In 1943, Linc enlisted in the U.S. army at age 18. He served in the Army Air Corps in Lavenham, England as part of the 487th Bomb Group. In April 1945 he volunteered to go on a bombing mission over Germany. Unfortunately, his plane was shot down and two members of the crew were killed. Linc parachuted out but was captured and spent the end of the war in a POW camp. After the war he studied engineering at Purdue and Yale. He married his high school sweetheart Virginia Fowler and after Linc graduated from Yale they moved to Minneapolis, where Linc worked for Honeywell and they started a family.
Linc would wind up working for Honeywell in various locations for 35 years. Among other things, Linc worked on the space program, designing guidance and control systems for the spacecraft used in the Apollo missions. He relished the opportunity to be part of a group working day and night to accomplish the ambitious goal set by President Kennedy in 1961 to send a man to the moon by the end of the decade. Later Linc was given another challenging opportunity, when he was named as Engineering Director for Honeywell in the UK and moved to Glasgow, Scotland for four years. Linc was an avid traveler and life-long learner, attending over 40 Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel) programs around the world. Perhaps as a result of his travels and his experience during the war, he was a firm believer in the goal of world peace and promoting understanding among different peoples and cultures. After Virginia's untimely death in 1987, Linc married the widow Leora Ito and they were happily married for 16 years, expanding Linc's family to add her two children from a prior marriage. Leora passed away in 2004. Later in life Linc developed a close friendship with Nancy Hood Stone, who passed away in 2019.
After his retirement, Linc couldn't rest on his laurels. Needing a way to be of service to others, he volunteered as a counselor with SCORE, the nation's largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors. As with all his endeavors, Linc gave 110% and did an outstanding job. In 2011, he was named the Minnesota Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year for the SBA's Minnesota District Office as well as the upper Midwest Region.
For the past 15 years, Linc enjoyed being part of a close-knit community at Covenant Living in Golden Valley, where he made many friends among the residents and staff. He founded the Four Score and Ten club, was involved in various book clubs, and composed poems and lyrics for musical performances. He also enjoyed providing educational lectures. Shortly before his death, he gave an hour-long presentation on the ins and outs of how to vote in the 2020 election, which was shown on the Covenant Village closed-circuit television channel. Another important social activity for Linc for many years was his water aerobics class at Ridgedale Y.
Linc was a loving husband and father, and a good friend. To the very end of his life, he derived great pleasure from learning new things and considering new ideas. He was always ready to laugh at a good joke. He set an example of hard work, character, and generosity that was an inspiration to us all. He will be sorely missed.
A memorial for Linc will be held at Covenant Living, for residents only, at a later date. Also, a Celebration of Life will be held at the Cremation Society of Minnesota, 7835 Brooklyn Blvd., Brooklyn Park on Tuesday, October 20, with visitation at 3:00 and service at 4:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Linc's memory be made to the International Rescue Committee (rescue.org).