Hudson Joseph Meek was honored Saturday morning at his Celebration of Life in Homewood, AL, following his tragic death, at the age of 16, from blunt force trauma on December 21.
The 93-minute memorial dedicated to the Baby Driver alum was held at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church and streamed live on his Instagram account and his mother Lani Wells Meek’s Facebook account.
Because Hudson died four days before Christmas, the church choir opened with a moving rendition of Casting Crowns’ 2008 song I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.
Initially, Dr. David Eldridge, senior pastor of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church — who baptized Meek in 2008 — mourned his loss.
The Vestavia Hills High School sophomore’s heartbroken parents — Lani and Derek — then shared some of their favorite memories of Hudson, including the time he amusingly joined a group of twerking dancers in New Orleans.
There were no substances or suspected foul play involved in Hudson’s death, which resulted from him falling from a moving vehicle in the 1900 block of Canyon Road on Dec. 19 around 10:45 p.m. – according to TMZ.
Hudson Joseph Meek was honored Saturday morning at his Celebration of Life in Homewood, AL, following his tragic death, at age 16, from blunt force trauma on December 21 (photo September 9)
The 93-minute memorial dedicated to the Baby Driver alum was held at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church and streamed live via his Instagram account and his mother Lani Wells Meek’s Facebook account
Meek, an organ donor, was rushed to hospital but sadly succumbed to his injuries two days later.
“Guys, he would be so proud if he had known that five families learned on Christmas Eve that their loved ones would receive life-saving organs,” Lani informed the audience.
“So on Christmas Day, Hudson saved five lives. He would be so proud of that.’
The grieving matriarch went on to describe the Rebels footballer as ‘courageous, spontaneous and completely unfiltered in the greatest way possible’.
According to his obituary from Searcy Funeral Home, Hudson — who also survived his 19-year-old brother Tucker — had visited all 50 U.S. states and earned his advanced open water certification in diving at the age of 13.
Meek’s family has established the Hudson J. Meek Memorial Scholarship, awarded to one student each year, and they have asked for donations through Venmo (HudsonMeekScholarship) or Wells Fargo (account #5908190381).
The devout Christian last played the character Sirius in Todd Wiseman Jr.’s film The School Duel, which has yet to be distributed following its September 6 premiere at the Deauville American Film Festival.
Hudson’s most memorable role was playing the younger version of Ansel Elgort’s character Miles, aka “Baby,” in Edgar Wright’s critically acclaimed action film Baby Driver, which grossed $226.9 million at the worldwide box office in 2017.
Meek’s biggest role was voicing Bada in 52 episodes of the animated series Badanamu Stories between 2020-2021.
The avid skier also guest-starred in episodes of National Geographic’s Genius, The CW’s Legacies, NBC’s Found and CBS’ MacGyver – as well as in films such as Michael Polish’s 2015 film 90 Minutes in Heaven and Whitney Hamilton’s 2018 film Union.
Since Hudson passed away four days before Christmas, the church choir opened with a moving rendition of Casting Crowns’ 2008 song I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.
Initially, Dr. David Eldridge, senior pastor of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church — who baptized Meek in 2008 — helped mourners cope with his loss
The Vestavia Hills High School sophomore’s heartbroken parents — Lani and Derek — then shared some of their favorite memories of Hudson, including the time he amusingly joined a group of twerking dancers in New Orleans.
No substances or suspicion of foul play were involved in Hudson’s death, which resulted from him falling from a moving vehicle on Dec. 19.
Meek – an organ donor – was rushed to hospital, but sadly succumbed to his injuries two days later
Lani told the audience, “Guys, he would have been so proud if he had known that five families learned on Christmas Eve that their loved ones would receive life-saving organs. So on Christmas Day, Hudson saved five lives. He would be so proud of that.”
The grieving matriarch went on to describe the Rebels footballer as ‘courageous, spontaneous and completely unfiltered in the greatest way possible’ (pictured in 2016).
Hudson – who is also survived by his 19-year-old brother Tucker – had visited all 50 US states and earned his advanced open water certification in diving at the age of 13
Meek’s family has established the Hudson J. Meek Memorial Scholarship, awarded to one student annually, and they have asked for donations (stock photo 2014)
The Badanamu Stories star last played the character Sirius in Todd Wiseman Jr.’s film The School Duel, which has yet to be distributed after its September 6 premiere at the Deauville American Film Festival.
Hudson’s most memorable role was playing the younger version of Ansel Elgort’s character Miles, also known as “Baby,” in Edgar Wright’s critically acclaimed action film Baby Driver, which grossed $226.9 million at the worldwide box office in 2017.
Meek also guest-starred in episodes of National Geographic’s Genius, The CW’s Legacies, NBC’s Found (pictured September 11) and CBS’ MacGyver – as well as in films such as Michael Polish’s 2015 film 90 Minutes in Heaven and Whitney Hamilton’s 2018 film Union.