James Vassar Hudson, Jr.

James (Jim) V. Hudson, Jr. was born on January 21, 1936, to James V. Hudson, Sr. and Katherine Lillian Kelly Hudson in Jackson, Mississippi. His family later moved to Monroe, Louisiana, where his father worked for Scott Truck and Tractor. Jim, his sister Patricia, and his parents attended First Baptist Church of Monroe and walked most Sundays to and from church until they finally were able to buy a car.

Jim graduated from Neville High School and attended Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana, where he received a degree in History and a teaching certificate. While attending Louisiana College, he felt God’s call to be a foreign missionary. He then went to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and received a degree in Christian education in 1960. After six months with the US Army National Guard, he returned to Monroe, and married Charlotte Linda Pickett of Bastrop, Louisiana, on August 19, 1961. Then he began teaching history and English at Bastrop Junior High School.

Jim and Linda were appointed as missionaries to South Korea by the International Mission Board in December of 1967. They and their three children departed for South Korea in September of 1968. Learning the Korean language was their first job and it was a continuing task during their years there. They saw how much Koreans loved Americans because America sent soldiers to fight in South Korea and ultimately kept South Korea from becoming a communist nation taken over by North Korea.

Jim began teaching at Korea Christian Academy, a school for missionary children in Taejon, South Korea, on a full-time basis after language school. When a gymnasium was built at the school, Jim got to be its first basketball coach. Jim also taught at Faith Academy in Manila, Philippines, for one year and later worked for the Baptist Church Development Board in Seoul, South Korea.

South Korea was a country that responded to the Gospel. Both Jim and Linda felt privileged to be able to work as missionaries in South Korea. When Jim and Linda returned to the USA in 1985, Jim worked in several churches as a Minister of Education. His last position was at First Baptist Church, Union, South Carolina, where he and Linda made many close friends.

Jim is survived by his wife Linda and their children, Johnna (Art) Gomez of Allen, Texas, James Kelly Hudson of Bennington, Vermont, and Joel (Angie) Hudson of Cary, North Carolina; Jim’s sister, Patricia Hudson Penrose of Waverly, Ohio; Grandchildren, James Gomez, Kira Gomez, Hannah (Graham) Hudson Petrea, Lauren Hudson and great granddaughter, Olivia James Petrea. Jim is predeceased by grandson, James Trevor Hudson, who passed on 9/7/2022.

Funeral services will be held at First Baptist Church, reception hall, in Cary, NC on Friday, November 7th, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the International Foreign Mission Board, 3806 Monument Ave, Richmond, VA 23230 or to a church of your choice to foreign missions or to charities that support people in need. Cards may be sent to Mrs. Linda Hudson, 300 Kildaire Woods Drive Apt 214, Cary, NC 27511.

Brown Wynne of Cary is honored to serve the Hudson family.

Announcement courtesy of the

S.R. Holcombe Funeral Homes