Catherine Oviatt Hudson

    CATHERINE OVIATT HUDSON, beloved mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend was reunited in heaven with her husband Gordon on Thursday, July 4, 2019.  She had a stroke and passed away peacefully at Chinook Regional Hospital at the age of 91 years.  Funeral Services will be held Saturday, July 13, 2019 at 11:00 am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, CARDSTON EAST STAKE CENTRE.  Friends may meet the family Friday, July 12, 7:00-8:00 pm at Christensen Salmon Generations Funeral Home, 703-13 St. N Lethbridge, and before the service from 9:30 am-10:40 am at the church on Saturday. 

    She is lovingly remembered by her sister, Viola Oviatt Hudson; children Mary-Rose (Ron) McMullin, Jacalyn (Gord) Miller-Williams, Bruce (Louise) Hudson, Keith (Sandra) Hudson, Glen (Carole) Hudson, Pamella (Ron) Thompson, Cathie (Ken) Harris, and Emily (Darren) Berg, and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren.  She has been predeceased by her husband Gordon, son-in-law Grant Miller, and grandchildren Angela Miller, Ryan McMullin, Kristi Hudson, and Jonah Berg.

    Catherine Oviatt Hudson was born January 11, 1928 in Claresholm, Alberta, to John Frederick Oviatt and Mary Elizabeth Hatch.  With her 10 siblings, Catherine was raised on a farm outside Stavely, Alberta during the great depression. She always remembered the times she went with her father to deliver milk. If he got a dime instead of a milk token, he would buy her a treat. Her mother worked hard, taught her children to work hard and emphasized the importance of university education. 

    When Catherine was 12 years old, her brother Delmar and his wife Hazel invited her to live with them in Barnwell. He was a school teacher and the principal there. She enjoyed her time living with them and made many friends.  When Delmar returned to university for his Ph.D., she moved back home for high school. By then, her parents had moved to Claresholm, where she met her future husband, Gordon Hudson. After high school, she attended the University of Alberta, with dreams of becoming an air stewardess or a nurse, but instead she listened to Delmar's advice and became a teacher. 

    After finishing university, she moved back with her parents and started teaching at the Claresholm Junior High School. She later regretted that she had not been more organized in her teaching, but her students appreciated her kindness and admired her beauty.  She and Gordon dated, and she gladly accepted his proposal.  Gordon was working as a banker at that time, and rather than a ring he gave her an IOU for a ring.

    After they became engaged, she taught school in McNally, Magrath, and Cardston while Gordon served a mission in Australia.  Shortly after his return, they were married on February 14, 1951, in the Cardston Alberta Temple.  They raised eight children in Edmonton, Alberta. Having so many children so close together was very difficult for her, but she had a great desire to raise her children in a loving home, founded on gospel principles.  Catherine and Gordon loved music and there was always music in their home. Their children remember bedtime lullabies played by Dad on trumpet and Mom on piano.  They also remember often listening to classical music on records and on the radio. She taught some of her children piano, after which some of them branched out to another instruments with her encouragement.  Later, after her children left home, Catherine took piano lessons herself and passed her Grade 9 piano exam from the Royal Toronto Conservatory of Music with Distinction. She had a quiet determination to do right, to always try to improve herself, and to serve those around her. She was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was diligent in teaching her family and reaching out to others in her callings. 

    Catherine and Gordon served a church mission together in Vermont, where she loved her companion, loved the people they served and loved the spectacular scenery.  After their mission, they moved to Cardston where they enjoyed serving in the temple baptistry.  They both cherished the experience of having their grandchildren with them in the temple.  After Gordon died in 2009, Catherine enjoyed the last 10 years of her life living with her family and adored her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  She will be dearly missed but her love will influence and bless us forever.

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