Aubrey Lee Hudgins

Aubrey Lee Hudgins, 97, died at his home in Mathews County, Virginia, on the morning of Friday, March 28, 2025, after a long illness. He passed away peacefully in his sleep, about a mile from the house where he was born on November 13, 1927, the son of the late Capt. Lee Hudgins and the late Edith Ripley Hudgins. Aubrey was a longtime resident of Norfolk, Virginia but moved to Mathews last November after a series of falls and hospitalizations. For the last two years, he’d been in the full-time care of his son, Al Hudgins, who lived with him both in Norfolk and Mathews.

At the age of 21, Aubrey married the love of his life, his beloved Rosalyn, and they enjoyed 73 years of marriage before her passing in 2021. He dearly missed her every single day for the remainder of his life. He was also predeceased by his daughter, Cathy Hudgins Turner, and son-in-law, Jeff Turner, as well as his sister, Louise Hudgins Cherry, and brother-in-law, Vernon Cherry.

In addition to his son, he is survived by four grandchildren, Brian Turner (Kristin) of Norfolk, Peter Turner of Chesapeake, Hilary Hudgins (Niko) of Norwich, England, and Graham Hudgins (Mary) of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and four great-grandchildren, Elliott Turner, Catherine Turner, Emmaline Turner, and Natalie Turner, as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Aubrey was a principal in a family-owned business specializing in marine transportation of petroleum products, M. Lee Hudgins & Son, located for many years at the foot of Front Street in Norfolk. The company also operated a yacht marina in the same location. After the family sold that property, Aubrey worked for many years as a supervisor for Virginia International Terminals, in both Norfolk and Portsmouth, before his retirement.

Aubrey was an avid hunter and a longtime member of the Roanoke and Tar River Gun Club. He enjoyed genealogy, beekeeping, and took every opportunity to go fishing, oystering, and clamming. He loved heading every fall to the Skyline Drive with his family (his son took him for his final visit in 2023) and traveling to destinations such as Florida, Maine, Branson, and Canada, as well as a family cross-country automobile trip to California in 1968.

But his deepest devotion was to his faith. He and Rosalyn were members of Talbot Park Baptist Church in Norfolk in the 1960s and 1970s and, more recently, of Kempsville Baptist Church in Virginia Beach. Throughout his life, Aubrey enjoyed sharing his testimony and helping those in need. His Bible was full of marked passages and notes from his deep studies of Scripture, and he was also an engaging Sunday School teacher.

Aubrey was widely known for his quick smiles and active sense of humor, always ready with a joke or a funny story. He was good company throughout his life.

A funeral will be held at Faulkner Funeral Homes, Foster-Faulkner Chapel, Mathews, Virginia on Saturday, April 12, 2025 at 11 a.m., with a visitation at 10 a.m. A graveside service will take place immediately thereafter at Friendship Cemetery in Susan, Virginia, with a reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Cathy H. Turner Scholarship Endowment Fund in memory of Aubrey and Rosalyn Hudgins at Norfolk Christian High School, 255 Thole Street, Norfolk, VA 23505 or by clicking this link: https://www.norfolkchristian.org/rosalyn-hudgins-memorial-fund/