Roland Banks Hudson, III

Roland Banks Hudson, III, 83, of Nicholasville, husband of Dede Strange Hudson, passed away on May 31, 2024. Banks was born on August 10, 1940, in Bluefield, WV, to the late Roland Banks Hudson, Jr. and Mary Elizabeth (Caton) Hudson. He was educated in the Bluefield schools and graduated from the U. S. Military Academy at West Point in 1963. He completed Airborne and Ranger training and served in Viet Nam. During his time in the Army, he completed two master’s degrees in Theology at the Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA. He completed a year of clinical training at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, DC. He retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1983 after serving as an Army chaplain. After leaving the Army, he was a psychotherapist in Lexington specializing in the treatment of PTSD, panic attacks, acute stress, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. While his family is proud of the 20 years he served our country and the 40 years he spent helping people through difficult times, we are most grateful for how these experiences shaped him into a person that invested time in people and made their lives better. He tried his best to live in the moment and enjoy life to the fullest. He would not dwell on the past or look too far forward. While on this earth his focus remained on his journey to Now. Those who were fortunate enough to have him in their lives knew two things to be true: Banks loved with abandon and was himself easy to love.

Banks is survived by his beloved wife, Dede Hudson, his two children, Asiah Hudson Welty and Roland Banks (Andrea) Hudson, IV, and two stepchildren, Amy (Chris) Eddie and Carrie Shields, all of Lexington. He is also survived by his grandchildren John (Mia) Welty, Jacob (Hilary) Welty, Will Welty, Landon (Samantha) Hudson, Rylee Hudson and Maggie Hudson, as well as step-grandchildren, R. J. Baldridge, Cordelia Eddie, Audrey Eddie, and Oscar Treadway. In addition, he leaves 3 great-grandchildren, John Welty, Lincoln Welty, and Kellin Welty.

Also surviving are siblings Nina (Dennis) Benton, Joe (Jane) Hudson, Anne (Walt) Johnson, and David (Sylvia) Hudson, and nieces and nephews Tom (Alicia) Goodman, Chris (Rosie) Goodman, Heather (Sean) Collopy, Trey (Lisa) Johnson, and Brooke (Andy) Leighton. Great nieces and nephews are Caraline (Bobby) Luft, Joe Goodman, Parker Goodman, Wally Johnson, Jimmy Johnson, Tessa Johnson, and Benny Johnson. Banks is also survived by his dear friend, Larry Vaughan.

There will be a private family memorial service followed by a burial at Arlington National Cemetery. Bluegrass Care Navigators – Lexington served him and his family graciously during his final days on this earth, so the family would request any memorial tributes be made in the form of a charitable donation to them.