Beverly Hudnut, former first lady of Indianapolis, dies at 66

Beverly Hudnut, the widow of former Indianapolis Mayor Bill Hudnut, died Sunday after a yearslong fight with brain cancer. She was 66.

Dave Arland, a former aide to her husband, confirmed Beverly Hudnut’s death due to an aggressive form of brain cancer. She passed in Bethesda, Maryland, surrounded by family after about three years of her illness.

Hudnut was the first lady of Indianapolis for the final three years of her husband’s historic four-term service, which began in 1976 and ended in 1991. Bill Hudnut is the longest-serving mayor of Indianapolis and was known as a towering figure who led the city out of its post-World War II decay in the final decades of the 20th century.

Beverly Hudnut, the former mayor’s third wife, worked as a lawyer, lobbyist, policy adviser and consultant. That work appeared to continue even as her health deteriorated. In October, she wrote an opinion piece from a Washington, D.C., assisted living facility about the importance of immigrants working in health care.

“In assisted living, me and my neighbors are helped each day by a group of hardworking immigrants,” she wrote in an op-ed that Arland edited and emailed to IBJ’s editor. “Our nation’s continuing denigration of immigrants must stop.”

Hudnut was passionate about travel and deeply intellectually curious—she completed a lifelong goal to visit all seven continents in 2019 and, in adulthood, studied Latin, Chinese, Japanese, Greek and Spanish.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Evansville in interpersonal communication and a law degree from American University in Washington, D.C.

Beverly Hudnut, then under the maiden name Guidara, joined the Hudnut administration in 1986 as the mayor’s press secretary. Three years later, the pair married.

After her husband opted not to run for a fifth term in 1991, the couple moved to the East Coast. Bill Hudnut’s career in politics wasn’t over—he was elected to the town council of the Washington, D.C., suburb of Chevy Chase, Maryland, in 2000 and served as its mayor from 2004 to 2006.

Bill Hudnut died in 2016 at age 84. They leave behind one son, Chris Hudnut, as well as three stepchildren that her husband had from previous marriages. Her obituary describes her as a “fierce advocate” for both her son and late husband.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett wrote in a statement Tuesday that he was saddened by Beverly Hudnut’s death.

“Beverly was a lifelong volunteer, an advocate for AIDS awareness and champion for civility. May she rest in peace,” he wrote.

A memorial service for Hudnut will take place Jan. 11  Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N. Meridian St. The visitation will be held at 10 a.m. with a service to follow.