Dorothy Hudgins Massey

Mrs. Dorothy Hudgins Massey, of Gay, passed away in her home on December 20, 2016, just 22 days before her 94th birthday. Dorothy was one of four children of the late Hubert O. Hudgins, Sr. and Terressa Hudgins Moore. She was preceded in death by her three siblings, Velva Shirley Carr, Terressa Shattles, and Hubert O. Hudgins, Jr., as well as by her husband Leon Massey. After graduating from what is now called Georgia State University, Dorothy worked in the secretarial field and was later employed by the Federal Aviation Authority to serve as a weather informant to airports in the southeast. It was while in this position that she met and married Leon Massey, a lieutenant colonel in the Naval Reserve and an air traffic controller for the FAA in the Atlanta area, It was also during this time that Dorothy decided to learn to fly small aircraft herself---a feat only a few ladies of that time mastered. After she and her husband retired, they moved to Leon's boyhood farm in Rocky Mount, where Dorothy enjoyed the solitude of country living, read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution from cover to cover and daily treated herself to at least one crossword puzzle. She doted on the dogs and other animals that claimed the farm to be their home. In the winters when food was scares, Dorothy would purchase corn and grain to feed the wild Canada geese that flocked to her backyard in large numbers. Dorothy and Leon (Ted), never had children of their own. Her nieces and nephews, filled that void, and she took pleasure demonstrating her love for them. Nephews Jimmy Shirley and Ron Hudgins predeceased their Aunt Dorothy, but surviving her are sister-in-law Margaret Hudgins, nieces Janet Shirley Sexton, Ann Carr Jackson, Vickie Carr Horton, Terressa Shattles, and Deborah Hudgins, and nephews, Neil Shattles and Tony Shattles, and a host of great nieces and nephews. A graveside service will be conducted at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, December 22, in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Newnan. Claude A. McKibben and Sons Funeral Home of Hogansville is in charge of arrangements.