Sharon Hudelson

Sharon Ann (Abel) Hudelson

Sharon Ann (Abel) Hudelson of Bovey, Minnesota was reunited with her husband and the angels when she passed at her home on Friday, May 10th, 2019.

Sharon was a vibrant Finnish woman with strong Sisu. She loved to keep life simple and live off the land by cooking on her wood cookstove and drying clothes on the clothesline, even in the winter. She cared deeply for the wildlife and cycles of the seasons on the family homestead, feeding the deer through the winter and waiting for the return of the loons and the wildflowers each spring. Her favorite time of day was the golden hour at sunset when the rays would beam through the Norway pines over Balsam Lake.

She was born Feb 16, 1951 and raised in Hibbing, MN, graduating from Hibbing High in 1969. A beautiful synchronized swimmer and feisty women’s hockey player, she met and soon married her husband, Warren F. Hudelson (1949-2015) in 1972. The couple were active in the Iron Range and Duluth communities, where she worked as a pediatric office manager for Kundel & Kundel MD.  Together, Warren and Sharon built a log home on the family land at Balsam Lake, felling and peeling logs, completing the finishing work with their family and friends in the 90s and then retiring there 20 years ago. Balsam was the home base for fly-in fishing adventures to Canada and later roadtrips in their Airstream camper, the highlight being a meetup in Glacier National Park with their daughters and grandchildren.

Sharon was the generous, loving matriarch of a large extended family and always up for a party. Well-loved for her cooking and thoughtful ways of bringing sunshine into everyone’s life, she made it a point to remember every birthday and anniversary of her family and friends with messages of “hugs and smiles”.

She is survived by loving daughters Nordica Ann (Lance) MacCarty of Corvallis Oregon and Jamie Rae (Ben) Miller of Maple Grove, four grandchildren Livia (10), Odin (9), Carter (5), and Asha (2); siblings Raymond Abel of Hibbing, Leonard (Christina) Abel of Crystal; siblings in-law Vicki Hudelson of Eden Prairie, Karen Hudelson of Minneapolis, Carl (Diane) Hudelson of Hibbing, Lee (Tracy) Hudelson of Hibbing, Mary Hudelson of Flower Mound Texas, Emilie Stahler of Overbrook Oklahoma, Norm Mattson of Cohasset, and 26 nieces and nephews with 45 great-nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her parents Raymond and Signe Able, sister Carol Mattson, and brother-in-law Scott Hudelson.

Services for Sharon will be 1:00 pm, Friday, May 17th, 2019 at Dougherty Funeral Home of Hibbing.  Steve Tomberlin will officiate.  Visitation will be from 12: 00 noon until the 1:00 pm, memorial service at the funeral home.  A celebration of Sharon’s life will follow the service at Sunrise Bakery Reception Hall located next door.  Arrangements are with the Dougherty Funeral Home of Hibbing.