Franko Hargadon: About Dale L. Hudson

About Dale L. Hudson

Born: July 11, 1930, in Sumrall, Mississippi

Sumrall High School, Class of 1947 (Salutatorian)

Bachelor's Degree from Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., 1950 (Cum laude)

Bachelor's (1951) & Master's (1952) degrees in Music from Mississippi Southern College in Hattiesburg (now Univ. of Southern Mississippi)

Taught at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Miss. (1952 for a half-year, then ...)

Served in the U.S. Army, stationed in Trieste, Italy (1953-54)
-- Studied piano privately with Luciano Gante, from the Trieste Conservatory

Returned to teaching at Jones County Junior College (1954-57)

Post-graduate piano studies with John Boda & Carlisle Floyd at Florida State University in Tallahassee (1957-60)

Taught at Milligan College in Elizabethton, Tenn. (1960-63)

Taught at Great Neck School of the Arts in New York (1963-65), including a
radio broadcast performance of piano sonatas by Carlisle Floyd and David Ward-Steinman.

Worked at New York Public Library at Lincoln Center (1966-72)
while also earning a Master of Library Science degree from Rutgers University (1968)

Worked as Music Librarian at FSU in Tallahassee (1972 until retirement in 1993), while also serving a term on the Board of Dirctors of the Music Library Association; serving for a time as Assistant Editor of Notes, the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association; and serving 2 terms as Chairman of MLA's Southeast Chapter.

Moved to Hattiesburg, Miss. in 2000, becoming a choir member and occasional pianist at Parkway Heights United Methodist Church.

Franko & Dale in Hattiesburg (2000):

Frank Ronald Hargadon

April 6, 1929 - January 27, 2012

Franko was the son of Alma Egger and Francis W. Hargadon, of Baltimore, Maryland. While taking classes at the University of Maryland and working at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he became involved with community theater. Encouraged by his local acting successes, he moved to New York City in 1955, to pursue a career on the stage. He changed his name from "Frank" to "Franko," and was cast in several summer stock and Off Broadway productions. But he discovered he wanted more stability than an actor's life could afford, so he did an about-face and became an accountant, leading eventually to a position with the New York City Board of Education. In 1972, he moved to Tallahassee, Florida, where he discovered his true calling as an Alcoholism Counselor, at the Appalachee Community Mental Health Center. In 2000, Franko and his life partner, Dale L. Hudson, retired to Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

About Dale L. Hudson

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