BREWER – Jerry Lewis Hudson, staunch Republican and the only black man to earn a Brewer City Council seat, died early Tuesday at his home from a previously unknown ailment.

Hudson was 54.

He was born in 1951 in Atlanta, Ga., and graduated high school in his hometown before moving to Washington, D.C., for a period of seven years. Hudson moved to Maine in 1977 and held several jobs while serving in different public roles, including two terms as a Brewer city councilor.

“He served with dedication and conviction and always voted according to what he felt was in the best interest of the citizens of Brewer,” Archie Verow, longtime Brewer city clerk, said Tuesday.

Hudson served 1983-1986 and again from 1989 to May 1992, resigning two months before the end of his term for personal reasons.

Hudson is survived by his wife, Robin, and two young children, Joshua and Christopher.

He was a full-time member of the Maine Air National Guard and worked most recently as a greeter at Sam’s Club in Bangor. He apparently complained to family members about a stomachache on Monday but decided not to seek medical care and died very early Tuesday, a family friend said.

Master Sgt. Hudson proudly wore his pressed dark-blue uniform to the February City Council meeting in Brewer to present the board with a plaque in recognition of their work in support of the 101st Maine Refueling Wing, where he served as an aircrew life support technician.

“This was a great loss to our Wing, as Master Sgt. Hudson was a highly respected member and contributed greatly to the many facets of our mission,” Maj. Debbie Kelley, spokeswoman for his unit, said Tuesday in a press release. “He faithfully and enthusiastically served our nation with over twenty years of military service. His laughter, sense of humor, and dedication to his fellow guardmembers will be sorely missed.”

Kelley said Hudson was not just a co-worker – he also was a friend.

“He was just one of the most likeable people you could meet,” she said Tuesday. “It’s such a huge loss. He was a great member of the unit, and a great family person.”

Hudson loved to watch his two young children participate in sports and served this year as commissioner of the Farm League under the Brewer Little League program, City Councilor Larry Doughty said Tuesday.

“It’s quite a shock,” he said. “He was quite a good guy. Jerry and I have been good friends for over 20 years. We served together on the City Council. He had no hang-ups, he was a straight shooter and a good solid guy.”

Doughty ran into Hudson at the ballpark last Thursday and spent quite some time speaking with him.

“He was involved in everything,” Doughty added. “It’s terrible, just terrible.”

Hudson was the long-running chairman of the Brewer Republican Committee and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention on more than one occasion.

In 2004, while serving as an alternate delegate at his political party’s national convention in New York, Hudson was more than happy to roll up his sleeves, put on gloves and help spruce up Staten Island’s 200-acre Clove Lakes Park, which had been struck by vandals.

He was a member of the American Legion, a former Kiwanis member and he co-chaired Brewer’s “Compassion Across America” program, a community volunteering campaign launched by the Republican Party in 2004.

“He was a strong voice for youth education and athletics programs, and his voice was heard and made a difference,” Verow said.

Hudson, a member of the Columbia Street Baptist Church, also served as president of Brewer’s 1989 City Centennial Committee and wrote the introduction for the city’s centennial book.

“The children of our city are the leaders of tomorrow,” Hudson wrote for the book. “Let us pass the keys of opportunity, courage, service and spiritual insight on to them. They will continue to set the course for the generations that follow.”

When arriving in Maine, with his large stature and the color of his skin, Hudson faced prejudice, but he didn’t seem to take notice, Mike Gleason of Bangor said Tuesday. Gleason, a retired senior master sergeant for the Air Guard, recruited Hudson two decades ago.

“I don’t think it was easy for him to come into Maine,” his longtime friend said. “But to him, everyone was a potential friend, and that’s just how he looked at it. His personality helped him overcome.

“He was just one of those eternal bright spirits,” he added. “Even when he was having a bad day, you wouldn’t know it.”

Hudson was soft-spoken and had a gentle way about him, Gleason said.

“It’s unusual for anyone to come from out of state and be elected to [City Council],” he said. “I think he easily made friends, no matter what he did. He was a very public service-oriented individual. His years in the guard attest to that.”

Jerry Hudson’s first wife, Diane Hudson, said his passing was a shock to all who knew him.

“He will be missed,” she said. “A lot of people loved him. It shows life is short and unpredictable.”

No funeral arrangements had been made for Hudson as of press time.