Cecil Clifford Hudson

Cecil Clifford Hudson

Cecil Clifford Hudson was a physician, husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, cousin, a nature lover, and a devout Christian. His desire in life was to help others, and he did so through his practice of medicine and his charitable endeavors.

Cecil was in good health until he was in his 80s, but advanced age finally caught up with him. Spring was his favorite time of year, a season he called “New Green.” It was in March of this year that Cecil fell ill for the last time and entered hospice care. He died, peacefully, at home in Watkinsville, Georgia, on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.

Born on September 30, 1935, in Glennville, Georgia, to Rita Stewart Hudson and Cecil Clifford Hudson, Cecil credited his mother, a practical nurse, as the source of his desire to help others. Cecil’s love of books, literature, and the English language were passed on to him by his high school English teacher, Faye Darsey.

At age 18, after graduating from high school at Bradwell Institute, in Hinesville, Georgia, Cecil was persuaded by a recruiter to join the Army. Cecil said going into the Army was the best thing that ever happened to him. As a soldier, he traveled far from rural south Georgia and met people of various ethnicities and backgrounds. His worldview broadened immensely. He discovered chamber music and loved it. He became aware of racism, and this awareness led him, later, to participate in early civil rights actions in Augusta, Georgia.

After serving in the Army, Cecil used the G.I. Bill to attend and graduate from Mercer University. He then studied at the Medical College of Georgia, where he earned his medical degree.

For 24 years, Cecil was employed as a staff psychiatrist for the Northeast Georgia Community Mental Health Center. In this capacity he served many people in the Athens mental health clinic and in mental health clinics in the surrounding counties. In 1977, he helped to found the National Association for Rural Mental Health (NARMA). He also had a small private practice in Athens.

As a physician, Cecil had a long and close association with Athens Regional Medical Center. There, for many years, he provided psychiatric care, day and night, for patients and served as chief of the Athens Regional Psychiatry Department. At the conclusion of his medical career, Cecil was the Chief Medical Officer for Athens Regional, a job he found particularly rewarding.

From childhood on, Cecil had a great love of nature. He was a pescatarian and an early recycler. He was deeply attached to the Julienton River, the vast salt marshes of Georgia, and Sapelo Island. For 20 years, in his retirement, it gave him great pleasure to reside in the region of Georgia where his Stewart-family forebears settled and where he, as a child, lived during his most formative years. While in retirement, in McIntosh County, Georgia, Cecil picked up trash on Youngman Road for Keep McIntosh Clean and Beautiful. He also served on the board of the Altamaha Riverkeeper and, as a member of Friends of Sapelo Island, volunteered his service at the big house and on the roads and bridges of the island.

Cecil loved two Episcopal churches equally – St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, in Athens, and St. Andrew’s, in Darien. At St. Gregory the Great he was a Lay Reader and Lay Eucharistic Minister and served on the Vestry. Cecil was the first man to volunteer for and to serve on St. Gregory’s Altar Guild. The charities that he supported were numerous and varied.

Cecil is survived by Sandra Strother Hudson, his wife of 44 years; children Marc David Hudson and Leslie Anne Hudson Kowash, and their mother, Faye Powell; son-in-law Nathaniel Kowash; grandchildren Samuel Kowash, Griffin Kowash, and Hayden Justice Hudson; sisters Elizabeth Stewart Callahan and Marylyn Hudson Conoly; as well as nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Cecil will be remembered as a devoted grandfather who made many trips to Oregon to see his grandchildren at their home in Portland and to vacation with them on the Oregon Coast, in Sunriver, and in the Wallowa Mountains. Equally, he delighted in having his children and grandchildren as well as other family and friends visit him in Oconee County and in McIntosh County where he shared boiled peanuts, collards, fresh-caught shrimp, Tabasco, and many other things he loved. Cecil, in his prime, was an entertaining storyteller.

Burial with a private graveside service will be in Honey Creek Woodlands, a natural burial ground at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia.

A funeral service for Cecil, with a reception following, will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 5, 2026, at St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church in Athens, Georgia. All who knew Cecil are cordially invited to attend the service and reception. In lieu of flowers please consider contributing to the Athens Area Emergency Food Bank or a charity of your choosing.

Lord & Stephens Funeral Homes, East, Athens, GA is in charge of arrangements. www.lordandstephens.com