[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/news\/supporter-spotlight-robert-and-tomi-hudson\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/news\/supporter-spotlight-robert-and-tomi-hudson\/","headline":"Supporter Spotlight: Robert and Tomi Hudson","name":"Supporter Spotlight: Robert and Tomi Hudson","description":"Tomi and Robert Hudson. Robert and Tomi Hudson, are a couple whose support and generosity through charitable gift annuities and a living trust helped them make a difference in young lives at Faulkner University and provided them with financial stability…","datePublished":"2021-09-14","dateModified":"2021-09-14","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/author\/rburylo\/#Person","name":"Rebecca Burylo","url":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/author\/rburylo\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/37a0c97fbd1eda89e38697defcaf0573?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/37a0c97fbd1eda89e38697defcaf0573?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Faulkner University","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Official-Horizontal-480x128.png","url":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Official-Horizontal-480x128.png","width":480,"height":128}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/robert-hudson-montgomery-al-photos23.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/robert-hudson-montgomery-al-photos23.jpg","height":650,"width":773},"url":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/news\/supporter-spotlight-robert-and-tomi-hudson\/","about":["News"],"wordCount":456,"articleBody":"Tomi and Robert Hudson.Robert and Tomi Hudson, are a couple whose support and generosity through charitable gift annuities and a living trust helped them make a difference in young lives at Faulkner University and provided them with financial stability during their retirement years.\u00a0They lived long lives, worked hard, saw much of the world and served their communities well. They were a strong supporter of Faulkner and its mission. A humble couple, they are living out the rest of their days in peace and friendship just down the road from their beloved church and Faulkner. Robert Hudson died on March 7, 2017 and is survived by Tomi,\u00a0 his wife of 60 years, two daughters, five grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.Their home is decorated in beautiful original Japanese art passed down from Tomi\u2019s family in Japan. Robert, who grew up on a ranch in Shawnee, Oklahoma, was serving in the Air Force and stationed in Japan during the Korean Conflict when he met and married Tomi Kaneko in 1959 at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo.\u00a0After returning to the states, they started a family. He was living in Auburn and working as a veterinarian at Auburn\u2019s College of Veterinary Medicine for large animals at the time his daughter enrolled at Faulkner when it was known as Alabama Christian College. Several years later he and his family began attending University Church of Christ where he met then Faulkner president Dr. Billy Hilyer. Robert\u2019s knowledge and admiration for Faulkner grew.\u201cWe really got interested in the university through the church by our friends Billy Hilyer and David Short, who was the Vice President for Development at Faulkner at the time,\u201d Robert Hudson said. \u201cAnd we are so thankful that we were tied back into Faulkner.\u201d\u201cWe knew we wanted to give to Faulkner, but we had a concern about income,\u201d he added. \u201cWe had been through years in the past where inflation was hard on us so we became interested in gift annuities. It was the best thing for us.\u201dWith the Hudson\u2019s retained life estate through a living trust, they have also given their house, one of their largest and most valuable assets to the university with an agreement that Tomi can live there as long as she wants. \u201cAfter getting to know the Hudsons, they are fine people,\u201d Hilyer said. \u201cI know how important it is through the years for them to be so willing to give to the university and at the same time provide a stable income for themselves in their retirement years. They are very kind to do that for the university.\u201dAre you interested in becoming a supporter of Faulkner University? Please visit faulknerheritage.org.Tomi and Robert Hudson."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/news\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Supporter Spotlight: Robert and Tomi Hudson","item":"https:\/\/www.faulkner.edu\/news\/supporter-spotlight-robert-and-tomi-hudson\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]