Michael Thomas Hudgens was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, on July 9, 1938 to Grady Merwyn and Iris Ann Hawkins Hudgens.

Growing up, Michael worked after school at his father's filling station. He had an affinity for animals and fondly recalled family pets. He never met a dog he didn't like, especially German Shepherds. He was sympathetic to all living things, preferring to catch and release insects rather than swat them.

In his late teenage and early adult years, he was a proficient piano player, performing in jazz clubs in Houston. He attended the University of Houston, then worked for the CIA in Algeria at the end of the Franco-Algerian War in the early 1960s. He worked as a television director for KTRK-TV in Houston, at the end of the era of live, black-and-white TV, directing episodes of popular youth shows and televised plays including Ibsen's Hedda Gabler.

As a reporter for the Houston Post, he covered developments in the Civil Rights movement in the late 1960s, including Muhammad Ali's high-profile trial for draft evasion in 1967. He traveled all over the United States in his capacity as entertainment editor at the Post, visiting movie and TV sets and premieres. He moved to South Dakota and joined the School of Mines (SDSMT) in 1991, after being hired away from GM - Hughes Electronics by chair Lee Luckhart, JD. He taught philosophy, ethics, logic, and technical composition and was devoted to his chosen profession and his students. After 30 years at the Mines, he had no plans to retire.

Michael was an avid amateur (ham) radio operator, maintaining continuous licensure for over 50 years with the call signs W5ZVU and then W6YQ. He attained the highest proficiency in Morse code.

He traveled to Algeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Panama, Afghanistan, Italy, Norway, Iceland, Turkey and Greece and taught himself to speak French.

He wrote three novels, The Man in the Wilderness, Theseus at Waco, and The Starry Messenger. His scholarly works include Donald Barthelme: Postmodernist American Writer, Sisters of Fate: Myths that Speak Themselves, and The Shakespeare Films of Grigori Kozintsev. Michael was at work on another book at the time of his death.

Michael is survived by his three sons, Patrick K. (Karen) Hudgens, Thomas M. (Eric) Hudgens, and Alexander Hudgens; brother, Patric (TJ) Hudgens; his wife Susan (Byre) Hudgens; two stepdaughters, Ariel M. (Adam) Eagle, and Damaris A. (Ken) Herman; and by and eight grandchildren. He was predeceased by his daughter Pamela Hughes and his parents.

Services will be at 10am, Thursday, December 9, at Calvary Lutheran Church. The funeral can be livestreamed at https://www.facebook.com/calvaryrapidcity

A memorial has been established.