Mac Hudson; Partner in Radio Show

SAN DIEGO â€”  Mac Hudson, half of San Diego radio’s KFMB-AM (760) “Hudson and Bauerâ€� morning drive-time team, has died in his sleep. He was 58.

Saying he didn’t feel well, the Texas native left work at 9 a.m. Friday and went home to rest. He was discovered dead later that day.

Gov. Pete Wilson, a former San Diego mayor, said he was saddened by the death.

“Mac was a good friend and a great supporter, and he’ll be missed by many,� the governor said in a news release. “For nearly 23 years, he and Joe Bauer brought levity and laughter to San Diego’s airwaves. San Diego has seen tremendous growth in the last 23 years and in that time, Hudson and Bauer became an institution.�

Over the past few years, health problems, some of which the radio personality admitted were related to alcohol and drug abuse, sidelined Hudson. He returned to work in September but was out ill the next two weeks.

Bauer described his relationship with his on-air partner as tight knit.

“We went through the ups and downs like any marriage does,� the 53-year-old said.

The two paired up in 1975 while working for different radio stations in Houston.

Hudson had worked with various radio formats since he was in high school. His baritone voice evoked radio’s golden age.

“With Mac, the real warm side comes out on the air. In person, he’s reserved, I think just very shy, and the radio is a really good vehicle for him to overcome that,� Shelle Strauss, who worked with Hudson and Bauer for many years, told The Times in 1983. “Mac is the thinker of the two. . . . Mac is a master of words.�

Hudson is survived by his wife, Paula; children Kevin, Baxter, Anna, Vaughn, Alice, Jessie, Rachel and Paula; his mother, Margaret Mildred Lefkowitz; and seven grandchildren.

A public memorial service is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. today at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 3655 Fifth Ave., San Diego.