Hudson L. McKay

May 23, 1929 - April 29, 2019

Hudson L McKay Hudson was born May 23, 1929 to OH and Lilly (Pate) McKay in Talladega, Alabama under a shade tree outside their his parents house. This tree and home were located at the edge of where the Talladega Speedway is currently located. Hudson passed from this life at the age of 89 on April 29, 2019. He moved with his family to a farm near Lineville, Alabama and grew up on the family farm. He attended Lineville schools until he was forced to drop out in the 9th grade to work fulltime on the farm because his father was working in Tennessee to help support the family during the Great Depression. A younger sister died during childbirth and Hudson was sent with horse and wagon to get a casket from Lineville. Because there were no caskets there, he made the longer trip to Ashland and returned with one. The child was buried at a local cemetery. The house they lived in was considered an “add on” style home- as children were born into the family, another room was added on to it. As he grew up, Hudson helped with some of these add ons. Hudson grew up farming with horses and equipment. In addition to farming, he learned carpentry and plumbing trades working on construction crews in Alabama. Hudson was drafted in the US Army and served during the Korean War receiving serious injuries from a mortar attack. After spending several months in a military hospital in Japan, he returned to Alabama for a time before re-enlisting in the Army and going to Weisbaden Germany for a peace time tour in the US Army. While traveling on a train for a weekend of R&R, he met Viola Koester when one of his buddies commented about these four good looking American females in another car on the train. He and Viola dated and decided to get married while they were both in Germany. They returned to the states in December 1956 (Viola) and January 1957 (Hudson) with him accompanying a VW Bug which Viola had purchased in Germany on a boat. From New York City, he drove it to Lone Wolf via Alabama where he gave his sister Erdeal and niece Linda Sue a ride in “the bug” a car they had never seen before. Hudson and Viola were united in marriage on February 9, 1957 at First Lutheran Church in Hobart Oklahoma. He and Viola made their first homes (a number of apartments before purchasing a house) in Boulder Colorado where he worked for a service station, then a furniture construction business, a large parts house before going to work for the National Bureau of Standards. Hudson was confirmed in the Lutheran faith while he and Viola lived in Boulder, Colorado. While living in Boulder, their two sons David and Peter were born. Soon after Peter was born, they moved to Lone Wolf, Oklahoma so they could raise their sons in a country environment rather than a big city. Hudson and Viola purchased a quarter of land from Viola’s father, Paul Koester and Hudson rented Paul’s other farms to make a living for his family farming. The move to Oklahoma was an adventure. Hudson purchased a 4 wheel trailer and built sideboards on it and loaded it with furniture and pulled it to Lone Wolf. A broken spring and other things made the trip adventuresome. He used the carpentry skills he had learned many years before by building the home he and Viola lived in until they moved to the Hobart Living Center in September 2016. The home he constructed was from a kit purchased from Sutherland Lumber Company. Carl Graumann, Paul Koester and Herman Koester helped with the construction and brother in law Bill Taylor helped wire the house. He also constructed a number of barns and other farm buildings over the years as needed. Hudson took pride in his ability to repair equipment and taught those skills to his sons. He was proud that David and Peter had picked that up from him. Hudson’s first tractor was a 65 Massey Ferguson which he discovered wasn’t big enough to do all the farming so he traded it for a Massey Ferguson 90. A cracked block on an 82 Massey Harris combine created a fast trip to OKC to buy a replacement engine, then figure out how to install it into the combine so that wheat could be harvested. He purchased a drag type Oliver cotton stripper in the mid 1960’s to transition from hand pulling to stripping cotton. Many strippers followed that first drag type with his last being a self propelled Allis Chalmers. In the early years of farming, he often worked at the Sale Barn in Hobart to make ends meet. Cotton, wheat and cattle were the staple crops Hudson grew. Through hard work and frugality he and Viola built a sizeable farming operation which continues to be farmed by David and Peter today. During years of large cotton crops, Hudson joined with other farmers to work night shift at the Planters Coop gin to get cotton ginned and trailers available so more cotton could be harvested. David and Peter each have many memories of helping Hudson bring home various interesting pieces of equipment purchased at farm sales or from individuals that conveniently broke down in terrible spots- Hudson’s ingenuity always managed to get the equipment home and operational. Peter recalls learning to thread a log chain through a pipe to make a safer method of pulling something that was mobile but couldn’t be driven under their own power and has used it several times himself. In the mid 1960’s the Vo Ag instructor at Lone Wolf offered an adult welding class and Hudson took that class. In addition to learning to weld, he repaired a toy tractor which David and Peter had over used playing farm. Hudson was an active member of First Lutheran Church serving the church on the Church Council and as an usher and doing whatever needed to be done. Hudson is preceeded in death by his parents- OH and Lilly (Pate) McKay, wife Viola, brothers and sisters- Suzie (Erdeal) (McKay) Key, Anita Lera (McKay) Vallante Prichard, Willie Otis (Junior) McKay, Dyrell Thomas McKay and a sister who passed away shortly after birth. He is survived by his sons and their spouses- David and Irene of Lone Wolf, and Peter and Cara of Lone Wolf, and four grandchildren- Chelsea McKay of Hobart, Hannah McKay of Omaha Nebraska, Casey and Patrick Merryman of Weatherford and Adam and Wilma McKay of Frederick. He is also survived by great grandson Parker Merryman of Weatherford and a number of nieces and nephews as well as many neighbors and friends. Funeral services are at 2 p.m. on May 3, 2019 at First Lutheran Church, Hobart, OK with burial in the Lone Wolf Cemetery. Memorial Contributions can be made to either First Lutheran Church or St Judes Childrens Home