Jeannette B. Hudak

The Cochran Funeral Home & Crematory of Blairsville announces the death of Mrs. Jeanette Hudak, age 78 of Blairsville, Georgia who passed away on Friday, March 21, 2014.

This is a different kind of obituary. Instead of just the dates, place of birth and residence, this will be a synopsis of the life of a special lady who lived her life with love, energy, patience and forbearance. Jeannette was brave too. She faced a debilitating terminal illness that required a stem cell transplant graciously given by her sister, Leona Phelps, who deserves to be commended since she had to overcome both a stroke and a heart attack before being able to donate stem cells. For 37 years, Jeannette Hudak was the beloved wife of James Hudak, who is an equally special man, caring and uplifting his gal throughout her trials, making her final years as comfortable as he could.

During the past few years, Jeannette fought the good fight and said she was uplifted by the cards, phone calls and instances where people expressed their care, concern and prayers for her.

Locally, Jeannette will be remembered by the scores of people who she painstakingly led through their beginning struggles to learn line-dancing. She was the inaugural line-dance teacher at the Union County Senior Center, and was always looking for ways to brighten the lives of others by taking the line-dancers to nursing homes, senior centers, assisted living centers and festivals. Jeannette worked tirelessly to come up with new ideas that the line-dancers could use, such as using canes when dancing to "Old Bones," sung by George Burns. The seniors always loved that number!

Most recently, the dance group known as the Mountain Liners participated in a "Flash Mob" (a seemingly "impromptu" dance in the midst of an unsuspecting crowd) at the Community Center's Holly Jolly Christmas Celebration. Jeannette laughed at the surprised expressions on the faces of the onlookers. Her smile was contagious and her motto was: "Always Leave ‘em Laughing."

In addition to touching the lives of the people in the North Georgia mountains, Jeannette was the loving mother of five children: Diana, Debra, Douglas, Richard, and Donna; and the beloved grandmother of Travis, Jason, Nicholas, Guy, Robbie, Jessica, and Michael-Conner; she was also great-grandmother to Liam. She was their rock, confidant, and friend.

Wherever she lived and whatever she was involved in, she made an impact on all those around her. She lived life with incredible strength, enthusiasm, adventure and morale. Practicing what she preached, she was a person who always gave, expecting nothing in return. She is much loved and will be missed.

If you have read this far and want to know the "facts" - Jeannette was born on July 9, 1935 in Camden, NJ and passed away on March 21, 2014. She came to live in Blairsville in 2000 and previously lived in Miami, Fl. where she retired from the Miami-Dade County school system after 33 years. She also spent several years as a volunteer at the Blairsville-Union County Chamber of Commerce.

Memorial Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25, 2014 from the Chapel of Cochran Funeral Home. The family will gather with friends from 1 until the service hour.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society or to Union County Senior Center, which recently had to build an extension to provide for the growing number of people wishing to take line-dance lessons - all started by an energetic and committed teacher, Jeannette Hudak.