Dale Hudson approached life with easy-going style
On Wednesday evenings, Dale “Huddy” Hudson would stop after work at Kim’s Lakeside in Delafield, where he took part in its golf league, and bowling and fishing tournaments. He’d have a few Miller High Lifes and an Italian beef sandwich.
In some respects, that ritual touched on several of the most important aspects of his life.
First, Hudson was a hard worker devoted to the Miller brewery. He graduated from the Milwaukee Area Technical College’s industrial electrical apprenticeship program in 2001 and had worked for Molson Coors since 2008. Hudson was 60 when he died in the brewery shootings Feb. 26.
A co-worker described Hudson as “a great electrician.”
“He taught me so much,” said the coworker, who asked not to be identified because of company policy. “There was nothing Dale wouldn’t do for someone. You would ask him for help and he would always, always help.”
Hudson was particularly helpful to apprentices, who earned less, often picking up lunches or dinners, the coworker said.
“He would go out of his way to help people. That’s who Dale was.”
Second, he was an avid outdoorsman who loved to hunt, fish and golf.
Longtime friend Joe Helker said Hudson was always calm and collected. “Nothing bent him out of shape,” Helker said.
Another friend, Michael Sandroni, said: “On the golf course, he was just an even-keeled guy. Fun-loving. Easy going. I’ve never seen him get mad.”
If Hudson hit the golf ball into the sand trap, “He’d just start laughing,” Sandroni said. “That’s how he was.”
Sandroni said he can’t look at the work gloves on the front seat of his car without thinking of Hudson, who had given them to him.
“Every time I wear them now, I have to think of Dale,” Sandroni said. “Life isn’t going to be the same without Dale. It just isn’t.”
Born in Elkhorn, Hudson and his wife, Kathleen, were parents of twin daughters, Annie Kachelmeier and Sam Denevan. Hudson also had a son, Trevor, from a previous marriage. All three children are married.
“He was looking forward to a happy retirement when he could enjoy his hobbies and spend more time with family and friends,” his family wrote in his obituary.
“Dale was a quiet man, with a big aw-shucks grin, a taste for Miller High Life, and a deep reverence for nature. Seldom seen without a cap on his head, he had a passion for hunting, fishing, and (depending on his score) chasing golf balls down fairways long and narrow. He was a gifted handyman who could fix just about anything he set his mind to fixing.”
Hannah Kirby, Ricardo Torres and Cathy Kozlowicz of the Journal Sentinel staff, and the Associated Press, contributed to this report.