The Hands of a Boxer

By Brian Whitt, Goldthwaite Eagle

Two weeks ago, hands that have worn boxing gloves, grappled in wrestling rings, cooked chuck wagon meals and repaired teeth rested from their labors. For Dr. Keith “Fuzzy” Hudson, November 2 marked the conclusion of a highlight-filled dental career that has garnered accolades not only in Texas but nationally and internationally, and as he recalled favorite moments, the stories flowed.

For nearly a decade, patients visiting Hudson’s office in San Saba have had access to a visual history of his life, told through high school report cards, awards and other mementos decorating the walls of his office. How good of a dentist has he been? In a word, exceptional.

Hudson is much more than a family dentist. To his colleagues and law enforcement officials, he has been one of the world’s foremost forensic odontologists, tasked with identifying human remains at disasters and crime scenes based on the individual characteristics of teeth. Perhaps his best-known identification was of Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and dozens of his followers after the gun battle and fire in Waco in 1993. Modestly, he is quick to mention the people who worked with him.

“We had the best forensic team in the world, and they made us look good. You’re no better than the people you’re surrounded with,” Hudson said.

His leadership in the dental profession has brought Hudson extensive recognition and numerous awards. As a dentist practicing in Colleyville, he was Vice-President of the Texas Dental Association and a multiple nominee for Texas Dentist of the Year. Hudson is also a member of the International College of Dentists, and the list of honors goes on. As a teacher and example, he has helped other dentists to be their best through innovation, which has in turn benefited their patients.

Summing up his friend’s achievements, fellow dentist Dr. Tom Cody Graves said Thursday, “He’s really good for dentistry.”

In his youth, Hudson was also an accomplished athlete, starting out as a boxer while a student in Clarendon, Texas, and progressing to wrestling at the University of Texas. That love of athletics continued on into later years, when he was a member of the Board of Directors of Texas Golden Gloves, where he helped instill a sense of purpose and self-respect in young men from difficult backgrounds.

“Any time you can help a kid or an adult or anybody, it’s a big, big deal,” he said last week. That philosophy lies at the center of his life, and has served him well in sports and dentistry.

Like any good dentist, Hudson has his hobbies, among them chuckwagon cooking. Charles Goodnight, founder of the ranch where Hudson lived as a boy, invented the chuckwagon, and it’s not hard to imagine how young Keith Hudson was inspired by tales of the famous rancher’s exploits.

“I grew up on the ranch that the chuck wagon was invented on,” Hudson said, and of his chuck wagon cooking experiences, he said, “It was so much fun.” He has received letters “from all over the world” praising Dr. Fuzzy’s cactus stew.

Perhaps his early days on the sprawling Goodnight ranch did as much as anything to shape the larger-than-life man Hudson became. He was never going to be average, that much was obvious to his classmates, teachers and colleagues. As the Russians prepared to launch Sputnik, he and his Clarendon High School friends sent their own model rocket flying so high it vanished from sight. When ABC, CBS, and NBC sent crews to film their second launch, the rocket appeared on the radar screens at a nearby Strategic Air Command base.

Leaving a bright rocket trail across the years, Dr. Fuzzy Hudson retired last week to care for his beloved wife Olivia. He vividly remembers the two of them dancing to the music coming from yet-unfinished Sundance Square early in their courtship, and their ranch wedding the first year of the new millennium. His heart filled with gratitude, he set down the tools of his trade and returned to the dance.