DATE: Thursday, July 17, 1997               TAG: 9707170421

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   40 lines

FRANCES E. HUDGINS

Dr. Frances E. Hudgins, 76, died Wednesday, July 16, 1997, at St. Mary's Hospital, Richmond. She was a native of Lunenberg County and was the daughter of the late Ida Eugenia Wood Hudgins and Thomas Edward Hudgins.

Dr. Hudgins was a graduate of Victoria High School and received her undergraduate degree from Longwood College. She was awarded graduate degrees from Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Ky., Southeastern Seminary, Wake Forest, N.C., and received her doctorate from Union Theological Seminary, Richmond.

Dr. Hudgins taught in the public schools of Accomack County and Isle of Wight County and served as a Baptist student director at Mary Washington College.

In 1948, she was appointed by the Foreign Mission Board, SBC, as a missionary to China, where she served in Canton. When the Communists ousted all Christian missionaries, she went to Macau. Later she was one of the first Baptist missionaries to begin work in Thailand. She remained in Thailand until retirement, at which time she had served 41 years in Southeast Asia, having learned and taught in two Oriental languages.

After retirement, she made her home in Richmond, where she did some teaching as an adjunct professor at Richmond Baptist Theological Seminary and was an active member of River Road Church, Baptist, until the time of her death.

She was the recipient of many professional wards, and in 1974 she was awarded the Distinguished Alumnae Service Award by Longwood College.

She is survived by her sister, Ellen Hudgins Stephenson of Ivor; two nieces, Julia T.S. Davis of Richmond and Martha S. Barry of Virginia Beach; nephew, Thomas E. Stephenson of Tappahannock, Va.; and five great-nieces and a great-nephew.

A memorial service will be held at River Road Church, Baptist, Richmond, Tuesday, July 22, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to River Road Church, Baptist, 8000 River Road, Richmond, Va. 23229-8415. Purviance Funeral Home, Wakefield, is in charge. KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY

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