Leslie "Les" S. Hudson Jr., 82, passed away Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017. Funeral: 1:30 p.m. Monday, March 5, in Greenwood Chapel. Interment: Greenwood Memorial Park. Les was born in the early days of the Great Depression to Leslie S. Hudson Sr. and Ruby Comelius Hudson. At an early age of four, his parents divorced which left his mother to care for him alone. She was a registered nurse working 12 hour shifts just to pay the bills, and she soon realized that help was needed to take care of Les. She took Les to her parents farm in Goldthwaite, Texas, and that's where Les spent his early childhood; going to school, gathering eggs and milking cows. In the early ‘40s, his mother took him back to Austin where he continued his schooling and in the late ‘40s they moved to Fort Worth. It was here that Les was introduced to the automobile business. As a young teenager, he would work for his uncle Wayne Cornelius, washing and servicing cars, while still going to school. Les quit Tech High School in the 10th grade and continued working for his uncle until he entered the Air Force in the early ‘50s.. He was a supply technician at George AFB, Calif., and on the weekends he worked part time selling new cars In Victorville, Calif. After his three years tour of duty with the Air Force, he continued selling new cars until he moved back to Fort Worth where he worked for several dealerships. It was then that Les came to the attention of Earl Hayes, (Earl Hayes Chevrolet, Dallas). He first worked as a used car salesman and was so successful that in a short length of time his management and sales skills resulted in his promotion to general sales manager for the dealership. Ten years later, Earl's son returned after graduation from college and was given the general sales manager position. Les then worked for several dealerships when in 1972, Arendale Ford, Arlington, was looking for a salesman. A longtime friend, and an employee of Arendale, recommended Les to Ted Arendale. He was immediately hired. It was also about this same period of time that Les met the love of his life, Beverly, and they were married on Aug. 10, 1974. Ted Arendale was so impressed that he began to move Les up through the ranks until in a short length of time he was promoted to general manager. Several years later, when Ted passed away in the early ‘80s, Les had prepared himself financially to purchase the dealership which he did. He then proceeded to build a new facility and was active in all operations of the business until he sold the dealership to Don Davis in 1997. Finally, Les continued his hobby of collecting and restoring antique cars until a few years ago. Les was a man of his word and once a friend, always a friend. He was an extremely caring, generous and forgiving person. He had a deep belief in God and he loved his family, friends and his little dog "MoJo". HE WILL BE MISSED. He was preceded in death by his parents and daughter, Millie Spillman. Survivors: Wife, Beverly Hudson; children, Reggie Hudson, Bridget Hill, Brian Hudson, Brenda Abdus, Leslie Hudson III., and Rose Hudson; stepchildren, Michael VanNote, Gregory VanNote and Suzanne Eubank; and great-grandchildren.
Published in Star-Telegram on Mar. 5, 2017