MARYLAND, Dec. 2 – Lelia Ann Hudgins was called from labor to rest on Friday, November 28, 2008 at the age of 80. She resided at Golden Living Nursing Home in Hagerstown, MD, following a brief illness. She was born in Buckingham on November 29, 1927, the daughter of the late William McKinley West and Lelia Booker West. She was educated in the Buckingham School System.

She accepted Christ at an early age; was baptized and became a member of St. Joy Baptist Church. She married Thomas Grover Hudgins Sr. on May 12, 1949 and moved to Hagerstown. This union was blessed with three children. She then became an active member of Zion Baptist Church in Hagerstown where she served on the Helping Hands Ministry, the Usher's Ministry (she was president of the Usher's Ministry for many years) and placed Christmas wreaths on the church doors for over 25 years. She was employed as a domestic for several families in Hagerstown from 1949 until 1979. She worked as a nurse's assistant at Raven-wood Lutheran Village from 1979 until 1996 when she retired. She volunteered for many years with the March of Dimes and the American Heart Association. She was the treasurer for the Concerned Citizens Association. She served as an election official in her precinct for many years. She was a member of the Sunday Night Go-Getters Bowling League for many years.

Mrs. Hudgins is survived by her son, Thomas Grover Hudgins Jr. (Peggy) of Hagerstown, MD; daughters, Beverly Hudgins-King (Charles) of Buckingham, and Valerie Hudgins-Evans (Keith) of Charlotte, NC; grandchildren, Brianna Noelle King and William Thomas Evans; two sisters, Marie Hawthorn (Ernie) and Janie Claiborne (William); a brother, William A. West (Gladys); four sisters-in-law, Daisy Anderson, Maybelle Claybon, Minnie Barnes (Herbert), and Liza Bennett (Earl), with whom she had a special friendship (like sisters) since childhood; and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins. She also leaves to mourn devoted friends, Millie Ebersole, Madeline Day and Eunice McCall, along with her unofficially adopted sons, George Perkins and Elder James E. Bailey.

The funeral will be held Wednesday, December 3, at 1 p.m. at the St. Joy Baptist Church in Buckingham, with a wake at noon prior to the funeral. The Rev. Charles Hamlett will be officiating and Elder James E. Bailey will bring the eulogy. Interment will be in the Hudgins Family Cemetery on Briar Hook Road in Buckingham.

Arrangements are being handled by Reid's Funeral Home, Dillwyn.