For close to two decades, Bobbi Hudson owned two specialty retail shops in downtown Glen Ellyn.
Also a vigorous advocate for small businesses in the west suburban village, Hudson served for a time as the president of the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce.
“Bobbi was a real pioneer in revitalizing downtown Glen Ellyn,” said Joe Costello, who owns Costello’s Jewelry in downtown Glen Ellyn. “Her store was full of very unique merchandise, and she and her partner were outstanding buyers who really searched the world over for the merchandise they put in their store. There was nothing typical about her gift store.”
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Hudson, 89, died of complications from dementia on Nov. 29 at her home in Peoria, Arizona, said her husband of 68 years, Jim. She had lived full time in Arizona since 2014 and previously had homes in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn.
Born Roberta Baumgartner in Milwaukee, Hudson graduated from Shorewood High School in Shorewood, a Milwaukee suburb. She then earned an associate degree from Stephens College in Missouri in 1954.
Hudson and her husband were high school sweethearts. They married in 1955 and moved to Wheaton in 1960 for a job transfer of his. Even as a homemaker, Hudson had had something of an entrepreneurial bent, teaming up with two friends to start a small business from her basement, Wreaths and Trimmings, in which they produced custom-made holiday wreaths.
Around 1982, Hudson began working for a store in downtown Glen Ellyn, Daffy Down Dilly, that had opened in 1980 and specialized in gifts and decorative accessories. Named after a nursery rhyme, the store initially was located inside Cottington’s Interiors, a downtown Glen Ellyn furniture store. Soon, the store relocated to a separate building to the north, and Hudson eventually became a half-owner and then the store’s sole owner.
“She was really up and coming, and kind of an innovator when it came to her business,” said Doug Herwaldt, the longtime owner of Paul’s Shoe Service in downtown Glen Ellyn, a neighboring business. “It was really good for our town — her store brought a lot of people in from all over, and it was a classy store. So being next to her really made me feel good, knowing that she was bringing a lot of people into town and I was bringing a lot of people into town.”
Hudson eventually headed Glen Ellyn’s Chamber of Commerce.
“People in this community are interested in keeping the downtown viable and are loyal to local merchants,” Hudson told the Tribune in 1987.
Costello called Hudson “a catalyst in the community for keeping Glen Ellyn viable.”
“She was really a pro-community merchant,” Costello said.
Kimberly Oldis, who owned Kimberly’s Flower Shop in Glen Ellyn from 1986 until 2000, remembered Hudson as a “great inspiration and mentor to a lot of first-time business owners.”
“She took me under her wing, introduced me to the chamber and got me involved in the village,” said Oldis, who now is based in Seattle. “She was a real genteel, wonderful lady who loved Glen Ellyn.”
Hudson’s husband said his wife had “fantastic color perception” in selecting merchandise for her store.
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“She always seemed to be a year or so ahead of things that were popular or fashionable,” he said. “So I think that was part of what her success was.”
In 1994, Hudson sold Daffy Down Dilly to another woman and decided to open a new store, Knickers, in an adjacent space. Hudson ran Knickers, which was a bra-fitting and lingerie boutique, until selling it in 1999.
Hudson and her husband retired in 1999, and they began spending more time in Arizona. During retirement, she enjoyed attending art shows, entertaining, playing cards and dominoes, going out to dinner and shopping, her husband said.
In addition to her husband, Hudson is survived by three daughters, Susie Wall, Nancy Hudson and Kathryn Shaw; four grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Services were held.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
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