For Cathy Hudgins, cutting hair was far more than snipping locks and pocketing a fee. Friends and family say that she reveled in how her popular Decatur hair salon provided not just an outlet for her artistry but also allowed her to give back.
Born in Newport News, Va., Hudgins moved to Decatur at age 10 with her family when her dad took a job managing the Venetian Apartments and pool. Hudgins swam, life guarded and managed the pool. And, recalled her husband, Jim, she gave impromptu haircuts to pool-goers, earning kudos and foreshadowing her career.
After a stint at Georgia College in Milledgeville, she hawked products for a hair-car company, then got her cosmetology license.
In 1980, she opened Cathy’s Hairworks, a small salon in Emory Village. She eventually relocated to a larger spot on Clairmont Road.
Jim Hudgins got acquainted with his future wife during a 1991 hair appointment.
“I was going through a divorce,” he recalled, “and she had just lost the man she was dating to cancer a few months before. I would go in and she would ask how I was doing, and she was not being nosy. She had a fantastic ability to listen to people and share their joys and their tragedies. She had a wonderful ability to counsel people.
“We got married in 1996,” he said, “and the rest is blissful history.”
Cathy Daniels Hudgins, 60, of Decatur died May 23 of a heart attack suffered after scuba-diving with her husband in Cancun, Mexico. A committal service was held Saturday at Decatur Cemetery, with a memorial service following at Decatur Presbyterian Church.
Friends say that while her husband was the most important relationship she struck up at her salon, it was far from the only one. She became friends with hundreds of her customers.
“Anytime I saw her she began with a hug and ended with a hug,” said Fran Frantz, a high school classmate and longtime customer.
In 2000, she closed the salon to spend more time with her husband but continued to serve a few customers at home, as well as at the homes of clients who’d grown older and at nursing homes.
In 2009, a friend introduced her to the American Cancer Society Winn-Dixie Hope Lodge, a free residential facility on the Emory University campus designed for those undergoing cancer treatment, where she cut and styled hair for free. Lodge director Danny Sheltz said the sprucing-up helped give patients the confidence to face the world.
Hudgins herself developed cancer in 2011, which went into remission after radiation treatment. Her husband said that led her to redouble her volunteer work.
“Right before we left for the trip to Mexico, we went to the (American Cancer Society) Relay for Life and she told me she didn’t see herself as a survivor,” he said. “She said the survivors were the ones that she would meet and greet at the front door, and the patients that she would call bingo for on Wednesday nights” at the lodge, where the Hudginses ran the weekly games.
Survivors in addition to her husband include two brothers, Mike Daniels of Bigfork, Mont., and Chris Daniels of Cumming; and a sister, Vicki Shelfer of Casselberry, Fla.
About the Author
