Burnbrae Farms co-founder Joe Hudson dies at 94

Joe Hudson, the co-founder of Burnbrae Farms, just northwest of Brockville, passed away Thursday morning at the age of 94.

Hudson died at his home in Lyn, Ont. where he turned Burnbrae Farms into one of the largest egg producers in Canada.

Born on July 12, 1929, Hudson grew up on his grandfather’s dairy farm, which was founded in 1891. When Joe was 14-years-old, he raised 50 hens for a school project in his agriculture class. That project ended up changing the family business, as they transitioned from a dairy farm to an egg farm.

Over the years, Hudson worked diligently to expand the business, alongside Bob Anderson and the late Doug Barkley.

Though Hudson officially retired in 2010 after 75 years, he remained at the farm on a day-to-day basis.

Hudson was father to 5 children: Helen Anne, Mary Jean, Ted, Susan, and Margaret, along with 10 grandchildren. His wife, Mary Morwick, died in 2003 after battling cancer. Hudson re-married in 2005, to Joan McFall, who passed away in 2020.

Margaret Hudson, who has served as the president and CEO of Burnbrae farms since 2008, remembered her father with CTV News on Sunday.

“He grew this business from literally 50 chickens when he was a teenager," she said.

"He really wanted to grow our business on a national scale, and he wanted to know that it would carry on beyond him."

Hudson said he took pride in his business and his deep roots in Brockville.

“He lived his whole life within 200 meters of that home. He never called anywhere else but this farm and this community, his home. He loved the village of Lynn and all the people here in the town of Brockville," she said.

Hudson won numerous awards over the course of his career, including in 2007 when he won the We Care Hall of Fame Award -- the most prestigious award in the Canadian Food Service industry.

Flags in Brockville and Elizabethtown-Kitley are flying at half mast until March 23, after the passing of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, but both municipalities say they will keep flags at half mast until March 25th to honour Hudson.

Hudson's legacy lives on with Burnbrae Farms, which is still the largest family-owned egg farm employing 1,700 employees across Canada.

More details to come