Hattie Lee Hudman

Hattie Lee (Withers) Hudman, 93, died Monday August 8, 2022, in New Braunfels, Texas. At her request, no services were held. Lee was born in Orange, Texas, May 15, 1929, to Myrtle Irene (Burt) and John Francis Withers. She graduated from Lutcher Stark Senior High School as valedictorian in 1945, and earned a bachelor of business administration degree from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, in 1948 and was elected to Alpha Chi and Pi Gamma Mu honorary scholastic organizations. She completed postgraduate courses in education at Southwest Texas State Teachers College (now Texas State University) where she earned a secondary teaching certificate. She worked briefly for Humble Oil & Refining Company (now Exxon) in Houston before teaching high school English and business courses in Humble, Texas. After moving to Bee County, Texas, she taught high school English in Pettus. She later worked several years at the Chase Field Naval Air Station in Beeville as secretary to the commanding officer. She was selected by the Internal Revenue Service as one of the first four women in Texas to be trained as revenue officer. After working in Houston in that position, she transferred to Washington, D.C., where she worked as an auditor in the IRS Office of International Operations until 1965. Hudman then became the confidential assistant to Commissioner Willard Deason of the Interstate Commerce Commission, then served as Texas Senator John Tower's staff assistant. While in Washington, she and her husband organized the Washington, D.C., SWT Ex-Students Club. She met President Lyndon B. Johnson at a presentation made by Mr. Hudman and university representatives to Mr. Johnson in the Oval Office. In 1976, Ms. Hudman returned to Texas to work for Robert L. Hardesty at The University of Texas System in Austin. She was his top assistant during the beginning of his presidency at Southwest Texas State University. In 1983, Hudman was appointed executive director for development and alumni affairs and concurrently served as executive director of the SWT Development Foundation. She retired from the university in 1989. Her volunteer activities were intertwined with her work life and continued after retirement. She served as executive director of the Summer Children's Festival, produced by the SWT Department of Theatre. She was a senior staff writer for the San Marcos Business Journal in 1990-91. She served as president of the Community Relations Council of Gary Job Corps Center and chairman of the board of San Marcos Crime Stoppers Inc. She was on the city's 1990 Blue Ribbon Bond Committee, worked with the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and served on the Economic Development Council and the city's Public Transportation Committee. She was appointed by the city council to the Airport Commission, and was on the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies advisory board at SWTSU. She worked as a volunteer at the Tourist Information Center, and for three years worked with Texas Special Olympics, serving on the public awareness committee. She was a founding member and served as co-chair of the Central Texas Medical Center Ethics Committee, was on the board of directors of United Way of Greater San Marcos. She was a member of the San Marcos Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the San Marcos Chamber for which she served as a director and chair of its Government Affairs Committee, and as a member of its Public Safety Council. In 1987, she was elected to the San Marcos Women's Hall of Fame. She received the Civilian Special Award for 1991 from the Hays County Sheriff's Office. She was predeceased by her husband, John Thorman Hudman, in March of 1969, and her sister, Francis Irene (Withers) Shepherd in 2009. She is survived by her two daughters: Elizabeth Hudman, in Minnesota; and Sue (Hudman) King and son-in-law Alan King, in New Braunfels, Texas.