Charlotte Jayne Newman Hudgins was born on June 28, 1936, in Hartshorne Oklahoma to Charles Floyd and Sue Newman and passed away peacefully on December 26, 2023. She was a true coal miner's daughter. She was blessed with a natural musical talent and developed her love of music with the help of her mother and older sister, Betty. After graduating from Hartshorne High School in 1954, she attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in music in 1958.

Immediately after graduation, she began teaching at Ardmore City Schools where she met another young teacher and the love of her life, Emmett Hudgins. Charlotte's marriage to Emmett on March 31, 1961, began a union to which two sons, David and Steven, were born and would ultimately last 62 years.

Charlotte dedicated her life to teaching music to the children of Ardmore and helping them to realize their potential. After teaching at the grade school and junior high level and taking a few years off to be a new mom, she began her tenure as the Ardmore High School music director in 1968 until her retirement in 1989. Her music program at AHS was the first recipient of the "Outstanding Fine Arts School of Oklahoma" and won seventeen State Sweepstakes trophies. She formed a show choir, The Group, which performed and competed throughout the country. During her tenure at AHS, she directed her students in numerous musicals including Carousel, South Pacific, My Fair Lady, Paint Your Wagon, West Side Story, Brigadoon, Music Man, Hello Dolly, Oklahoma, Annie Get Your Gun, Grease, Guys & Dolls, Oliver, The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and The Sound of Music. She even composed the AHS alma mater that is still sung at events today. After retirement, she returned part-time until 1999 and formed the Jefferson Jazz and started the elementary piano lab. She also taught many private piano and voice students for decades in her home.

In recognition of her contributions, she was inducted into the Ardmore City Schools Hall of Fame along with Emmett in 1999. She later became the first inductee to the Ardmore City Schools Fine Arts Hall of Fame in 2019. On October 15th of this year, she was honored with the dedication of Charlotte Hudgins Hall at the grand opening of the Westheimer Center for the Performing Arts. Under the direction of two beloved colleagues, Gay Lynn Allen and Lisa Riggle, former students returned from throughout the country to form a choir and sing in her honor at the dedication. She was never comfortable receiving recognition and always deflected the credit to her students where she thought it belonged. She enjoyed hearing from her former students throughout the years and took delight in their success.

In addition to the schools, Charlotte also generously served the community by directing the choir at the First Christian Church for many years and playing the piano or organ for countless weddings and funerals. She loved her church family at the First Baptist Church where she and Emmett were dedicated members and served in various capacities in the music ministry over the decades. She took great joy in directing many summer children's musicals including The Wizard of Oz, The Lion King, Alice in Wonderland, and Beauty and the Beast and in directing the music for numerous Ardmore Little Theater productions. She was honored for her service to the children of the community by being named the Grand Marshal of the Ardmore Christmas Parade in 2006.

Besides her two boys, Charlotte's greatest blessings in life came from her grandchildren. She loved being a grandmother and enjoyed spoiling her grandkids, traveling to see them, and hosting them for holidays and extended visits at her home during the summers. She passed her love of music down to her children and grandchildren and especially enjoyed watching her grandkids perform. She was also a talented old-fashioned cook and shared many family recipes which will be enjoyed for generations.

Charlotte is survived by her husband, Emmett, of the home, her sons and daughters-in-law, David and Abby, Orlando, Florida, and Steven and Lisa, Mansfield, Texas, three grandchildren, Evan of Dallas, Texas, Carrigan of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Horus of Orlando, Florida, her sister, Betty Maddux of Hartshorne, Oklahoma, sister-in-law, Bernice Davis of Bokchito, Oklahoma, nieces, Elaine Williams Maddux and Amy Pike, both of Hartshorne, Oklahoma, and nephew, Chris Davis of Denison, Texas, and numerous great-nieces and nephews, and many loved ones including Alice Hartman and other dedicated caregivers. She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers-in-law, Bill Maddux and Don Davis.

Visitation will be held at Craddock Funeral Home, 525 S. Commerce St., Ardmore, from 6:00-8:00pm, Friday, December 29th. Service is scheduled for 11:00am, Saturday, December 30th at the First Baptist Church, 225 1st Avenue, Ardmore, with Dr. Alton Fannin officiating. Honorary pallbearers will be all of Charlotte's former students. Burial will be immediately following at the Rose Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Baptist Church at fbcardmore.com or Good Shepherd Hospice at goodshepherdhospice.com. The family will establish the Charlotte Hudgins Memorial Scholarship Fund to be awarded each year to fine arts majors graduating from AHS and donations will be accepted at a later date when more information is available.