John Grier Hudson, Jr.

Clinton, SC- John Grier Hudson, Jr. passed away in the early hours of the morning on September 7, 2018.  He was born in 1929 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and spent his final two days at the Hospice House of Laurens County.  He was preceded in death by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Grier Hudson, Sr.; first wife, Nancy Watts Bloom; daughters, Dale Hudson Howard and Joan Richardson Hudson; son, John Grier Hudson III; sister, Maude Ogburn Hudson Henderson (Daniel Sullivan Henderson); and niece, Nancy Hastings Henderson. He is survived by his wife, Marcia Heffner Hudson; son-in-law, William Bostwick Howard III; grandchildren, Dale Garrison Howard, Barrett Howard Justice (Jonathan Kyle Justice), and Grier Howard Marr (Robert Thomas Marr); great-grandchildren, William Lewis Justice, Hudson Anderson Justice, and Charlotte Elise Marr; sister-in-law, Virginia Heffner Boone; nephews, Michael Miller Love and Robert Reynolds Heffner Love; nieces, Catherine Henderson Pardue, Carson Henderson Anderson, Elizabeth Henderson McCullough, and Caroline Henderson Worthy; and caretakers and devoted friends, Barbara J. Barksdale and Jose J. Barksdale. Grier’s early years were spent in Spartanburg, SC, where he attended Spartanburg High School.  In 1950, he graduated from Duke University with a major in Business Administration and was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi fraternity.  In 1953, he joined the Air Force and served in the Korean War, stateside.   After graduation, Grier helped his father manage the Belk-Hudson store in Spartanburg, and then planted his own stores in both Montgomery, Alabama and Clinton, South Carolina.  During this time, Grier also traveled to help manage other Belk stores throughout the Southeast.  Grier enjoyed bird hunting (member of the Sportsmen’s Club), playing golf and tennis, and, during his younger years, he enjoyed playing the ukulele.  Grier and his wife, Marcia, spent many months enjoying both the shores of Destin, Florida and being members of the Piedmont Club and Country Club of Spartanburg.  Grier was an avid reader.  You could often find him in a chair next to his beloved labs, listening to jazz, and reading mystery novels, biographies, and books on Theology.  He was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church of Clinton and had an intense love of the grace of Jesus Christ.  At the heart, Grier was the quintessential Southern Gentleman and was dearly loved and well respected by all who knew him.  A funeral service will be held at the chapel of the J.M Dunbar Funeral Home in Spartanburg, SC on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 1:00 pm.  Afterwards, there will be a private committal service for the family.