Phyllis Janecke Hudson

August 16, 1933 - April 20, 2017

Phyllis Janecke Hudson died April 20, 2017 at the age of 83. She grew up in Illinois during the Great Depression under some rough conditions, enduring two bouts of rheumatic fever that harmed her heart but not her ability to love. She was bookish as a girl, reading everything from Shakespeare to Wonder Woman and she ended up being the first in her family to go to college. She loved saying that she was an English major, but she also did some acting and starred in her college production of The Crucible. She eventually got a master’s degree in library science and worked as a professional librarian for 40 years. Along with her husband Paul, she raised her family in Illinois and Florida, bringing her four daughters and son to plays, libraries, museums, movies, lectures, and parks all the time. She decided early on, that despite not having much money, her family would travel, and it did. In a '65 Corvair van with a bed in the back, they drove the United States, Canada and Mexico camping everywhere they went. In 1975, Paul had a stroke and couldn’t work anymore, but Phyllis took care of him for more than two decades, all while raising her children and working as a librarian at the University of Central Florida (UCF.) She loved being a librarian and loved her UCF family dearly. Even after she retired, she returned each year to visit her colleagues. She took pride in her work for the United Faculty of Florida and the women's rights movement. Despite Paul’s limitations after his stroke, Phyllis took him all over the world, traveling to Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, and across the US, until he passed away in 1999. After Paul’s death, Phyllis traveled even more, and she usually had a novel in her hands, which when she was done reading, she’d leave in an airport or train station for someone else to read. But the thing Phyllis loved most was being a Grandmother. She adored her grandchildren. It gave her the opportunity to express her love through one selfless act after another, and she did that until a few nights ago when she passed away in her sleep. Phyllis is preceded in death by her husband, Paul Alfred Hudson, and her parents Helen Marie Caffery Janecke and Clairond Gordon Janecke. Phyllis is survived by her children: Helen Kordela (Ted) of Elmira, NY; Nancy Hudson of Alexandria, VA; Paula Hudson of Chicago, IL; J Hudson of Akron, OH; and Danae Hudson (Mike Goodwin) of Apex, NC; Her grandchildren: Tedouesz Kordela (Morgan Melendy) of Hammondsport, NY; Calvin Kordela of Dundee, NY; Ashley Hudson of Alexandria, VA; Sara Hudson of Alexandria, VA; J Paul Hudson of Silver Lake, OH; Zach Hudson of Akron, OH; Juliet Hudson of Silver Lake, OH; Henry Hudson of Akron, OH; Jonas Goodwin of Apex, NC; and Carter Goodwin of Apex, NC Her siblings: Jim Janecke (Barb) of Fayetteville, IA; Norma Minteer (Ron)of Milan, IL; and Dan Janecke (Teresa) of Peoria, IL. Plans are in the works for a memorial service to be held in Illinois and possibly also in Florida, sometime within the next year. Memorial contributions may be made to the scholarship Phyllis cofounded: June S. Stillman Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund at UCF. Instructions for giving online or by mail to the June S. Stillman Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund: Online gifts: · Visit www.ucffoundation.org and click on the “Give Now” button. · Click on “Give to Meet UCF’s Greatest Needs.” · Complete the online form. Under “Designation” choose “Other,” and in the text box, type “June S. Stillman Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund. At the bottom of this page, you’ll see that it requests “Tribute Information.” That’s where the donor can let us know that their gift is to honor Phyllis Janecke Hudson’s memory. Gifts by mail: · Please make the check out to “UCF Foundation, Inc.” · Either write on the check or enclose a note to let us know that the gift is made in memory of Phyllis Janecke Hudson and should to go the June S. Stillman Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund. · Mail it to UCF Foundation, Inc., 12424 Research Parkway, Suite 250, Orlando FL 32826-3208