JULIA CLAIRE CLARK

JULIA C. CLARK: A LIFE REMEMBERED

1935-2021

Julia Claire Hudson was born on November 17,1935 in Birmingham, Alabama. She was the youngest of Frank and Rosa Hudson’s daughters, the ninth of their ten children. On the heels of the Great Migration, Frank Hudson traveled to Chicago with his four older children (Bessie, Frank Jr., Mary, and Minnie). They lived with Frank’s sisters who had migrated earlier. Julia and four of her siblings (Grace, Robert, Charles, Ellen) remained in Alabama where Frank had been a sharecropper. After the family was reunited in Chicago in 1940, Julia’s younger brother, Walter, was born.

There was little decent housing for Black families in Chicago. The Hudsons, however, were among the earliest families to move into Altgeld Gardens which had been erected near the steel mills to house war-workers. Black families of all income levels were able to enjoy backyards and garden shows in this close-knit far-southside community. Julia loved Altgeld and the friends she grew up with there became friends for life. She attended Carver High School where her personality and talent allowed her to shine in several school clubs including Girls Athletic Association (secretary) and Student Council (treasurer). Julia’s love for writing led her to join her 1952 classmates in lobbying the principal and the community to have the school’s first yearbook. Julia was part of the staff.

On July 2, 1956, Julia married Sidney Clark, her high school sweetheart and best friend. The couple was blessed with two amazing children, Sidney and Byron. Julia was a marvelous and modern mother. She and Sid doted on their children, but never wanted them spoiled. Both boys were talented, and she and Sidney, Sr. nurtured their gifts; but when Byron died suddenly in 1975 at 13 years old, just weeks before his elementary graduation, the family was left with a devastating and life-long pain.

As a young couple during the Civil Rights era, Julia and Sid understood the times they were in and the opportunities that Black people should have been afforded. Seeking to make a decent life for their children, the couple purchased a home on the southside of Chicago in 1967, but soon realized that the loan offered to Blacks was designed to make full ownership impossible. Julia and Sidney helped to form the Contract Buyer’s League, an organization that fought the city and the developers, eventually winning in courts and making home ownership possible for Black families throughout the city.

After high school, Julia attended Wilson Junior College at night, completing a two-year Business course. Her skills in typing, shorthand, and administration opened doors for her throughout her career. Julia loved to write and wanted to be a journalist, a passion that led her to write in her journals and notebooks everyday of her life. Over the years, several of her articles were published in local newspapers. Just out of high school, Julia became the youngest person in the steno pool for the Veteran’s Administration where her supervisors were amazed at her organizational talent. In the 1960s, she worked for Teamsters Local Union 743 where she was awarded for her contributions to the organization. Determined to complete a degree, Julia went back to school completing her Associates Degree at Olive-Harvey College in 1988, where she easily grasped new technology and helped many of her younger classmates as well. Julia became a clerk in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in 1968 when her children were young, but over the next 20 years, she worked in many capacities and schools, including several years at her beloved Carver High School. During her career with CPS, Julia also served as an administrative secretary in the Title I Program Office and in the Office of Gifted Programs where she coordinated budgets and support personnel for the city’s southwest side schools. In 1988, she became the secretary to Bishop Arthur M. Brazier, pastor of the Apostolic Church of God. Julia’s job included supporting the pastor’s work with officials in city and state government, religious denominations, civil rights and community organizations, as well as his national and global responsibilities. A member of the congregation, Julia was beloved and admired even long after her retirement from the church in 1999.

In 1976, Julia married James Waddy and started a new life that included fishing trips with friends and new relationships which included James’ family and other close friends who also became part of Julia’s church family. Julia and James enjoyed a devoted relationship until James’ untimely death due to cancer.

Julia’s mother, Rosa, had been an evangelist in the Apostolic Overcoming Holiness Church and instilled in her children a strong faith tradition. It was Julia’s faith in God that carried her through some of her most devastating moments and that sustained her for the rest of her life. In 2002, Julia moved to Henderson, Nevada where she easily adapted to “sunshine every day.” Julia always kept abreast of the news, held on to the promise of technology, and encouraged those around her to find solace in God’s grace. Julia loved people and made friends everywhere she went as she honed a new life in Henderson, where she was eventually joined by her son, Sidney, and daughter-in-law, Nancy. Julia loved life and, while she was fiercely independent, she appreciated all that Sid and Nancy did to contribute to her quality of life including traveling to visit them when they lived in Hawaii.

Julia loved to travel and for years before leaving Chicago, she cruised often with her son and several of her nieces. When her niece, Pamela and her husband Christopher moved to California, Julia enjoyed the nearness of extended family once more, and Pam and Chris often included her in travels to Mexico and places in California. She loved her siblings, nieces and nephews and made each feel special. Although she moved miles away, her nieces, nephews, and godson Bryan visited often, always feeling that they had to see their special aunt.

On February 11, 2021, Julia Clark passed away quietly in her home in Nevada surrounded by her beloved Sid and Nancy as well as Pam and Chris, and her eldest niece Rosa. In life, Julia and her siblings were best friends and confidants. She was the last of her generation and passed away knowing she had deposited all the love and memories the family had to give into the generations that followed her.

 

 

Visitation

Taylor Funeral Home LTD

Monday, February 22, 2021 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM 63 East 79th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60619 Directions  

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