Captain Perry J. Hudson

Perry J Hudson, 81, a former chief pilot for Eastern Airlines, helped guide growth in Hapeville through 12 years as mayor and two terms on the City Council.

As a state senator from 1974 to 1982, he sponsored a bill clearing the way for MARTA to serve Hartsville International Airport. He also helped direct construction of the Georgia Dome as a member of the Georgia World Congress Center Authority.

Aviation was Mr. Hudson's first love, but with quick wit and capacity to remember names, he was as much a politician as he was a pilot.

He was born a politician. “He was naturally witted and so friendly,” said his wife Miriam B. Hudson of Hapeville. “He got elected every time he ran.”

Mr. Hudson was born in Villa Rica, and his family moved to Hapeville when he was six. His house, which eventually was claimed for airport expansion, was just a short hike through some woods to Candler Field, the old airport. “He used to play on the airport property,” his wife said. As a child, he used to watch the early pioneers come in and land. That's how he got interested in flying.

Mr. Hudson took his first flying lessons when he was 17 and helped organize the flying club at the University of Georgia during the 1930s. He was a college flight instructor after graduation, but washed out of a Navy flight school, the victim of his own penchant for pranks.

“They used to land by flashlights, things they'd be put in jail for if they did them now,” his wife said. “He had a doctor on board once and he flew under a bridge. The doctor didn't like that and reported him. They kicked him out two weeks before graduation.”

In 1940, a friend told Mr. Hudson about job openings at Eastern Airlines. He flew DC threes as a copilot until 1942, when he was called into active duty by the Army Air Corps. Mr. Hudson was a flight instructor for the B-25 bomber and chief pilot and flight safety director for the Alaskan Air Transport Command.

After returning to Hapeville and resuming his job with Eastern in 1945, Mr. Hudson began his career in politics. He served two terms on the Hapeville City Council during the 1940s, and was elected mayor in 1948. He ran again for mayor in 1969, serving two terms until 1974.

In 1951, he became chief pilot at Eastern Airlines. “His job was to see that the pilots did their job right,” his wife said.  “He had that job for 12 years and then he resigned to get back to flying.”

With his quick wit and resemblance to Bob Hope, Mr. Hudson was the natural choice to represent Eastern on a 1955 national broadcast with Bob Hope and Jack Benny. As part of the show, he was supposed to welcome Mr. Hope aboard an aircraft, but Mr. Hudson's loquaciousness abruptly left him. “I thought he was a real good actor, but Perry couldn't get his one line right,” his wife said. “They made him say it about 50 times. He couldn't get the information right.”

Mr. Hudson retired from Eastern as a captain in 1976.

He served for 20 years on the Fulton County Board of Education and was a founding trustee of South Fulton Hospital and the Atlanta Baptist College.

“Mr. Hudson was proud of the Interfaith Chapel at Hartsfield,” his wife said.He was the first chairman of the Interfaith Airport Chaplaincy, and represented the organization at several international conferences.

The Perry J Hudson Parkway near Hartsfield was named for Mr. Hudson in 1994.

Survivors other than his wife include a daughter, Jan Hudson of Redondo Beach CA, two sons, Jack Hudson of St. George island FL, and Ed Hudson of Saskatoon, Canada, 4 grandchildren and a great grandchild.