Remembering Stacey Hudson Hamner

Words by Linley Allred | Images by Al Blanton and courtesy of the Hamner family

Natalie Brown can trace nearly every milestone of her life back to a friend who was right there beside her - Stacey Hudson Hamner. Their friendship spanned decades and seasons, each one painted with laughter, loyalty, and love.

“I first met Stacey in sixth grade at Maddox Middle School,” Natalie recalls. “While Jasper is a small town, the elementary schools were separate, and proximity often dictated friendships. We hit it off immediately and formed a good group of core friends, most of whom are still friends to this day.”

Through middle school sleepovers, proms, and homecomings, Stacey was a constant presence. After high school, she headed to the University of Alabama to study apparel design, and Natalie joined her a year later as her roommate in Tuscaloosa. After graduation, Stacey began her career in Little Rock, Arkansas, working in the children’s clothing industry. Despite the miles, she returned home often to visit friends, see her soon-to-be fiancé, Ken, and maintain those strong bonds. “I also visited Arkansas for nights on the front porch playing cards and talking about old times,” Natalie says.

Eventually, Stacey moved back to Alabama, settling near Tuscaloosa to begin life with Ken. Natalie, by then in Birmingham, loved having her best friend back in close proximity. “When I had my son, Anderson, Stacey was in the delivery room just filled with emotion,” she says. “She was the one who had packed the bags, and she read all the books. She and Ken went to my apartment and finished decorating my son’s nursery. They cleaned; they did the laundry. That’s just the kind of friend she was.”

It was also the start of their Thursday night ritual: dinner, baby duty, and watching Grey’s Anatomy. “Once Stacey had her daughter, Harper, we shifted the location to her house,” Natalie said. “And it continued when Stacey’s second daughter, Claire, came along.”

Life eventually sent Natalie to Muscle Shoals, and the weekly tradition came to a temporary pause. About a year later, Stacey called Natalie and said, “You will never believe this, but I am quitting my job, and we are moving to the Shoals!” That move started Stacey on a career path that changed everything.

Art had always been part of Stacey’s spirit, from painting football banners in high school to crafting with reclaimed wood. In 2017, her creative passion became her calling with the opening of Reclaimed Spirit in downtown Florence. “The name was inspired by the use of reclaimed wood to create something else and give it a second life,” Natalie explains.

The small shop on Court Street quickly grew, and Stacey’s artwork filled the shelves alongside jewelry and pieces from other local makers. Soon, she expanded into a larger space and, with Ken, opened a furniture store. Recognition followed in the form of a mention in Southern Living, a nomination for Alabama Retailer of the Year in 2021, and the Times Daily Readers’ Choice Award for Best Unique Gift Shop.

Stacey also poured herself into teaching and mentoring others. She taught art classes at Reclaimed Spirit and served as an adjunct professor at the University of North Alabama in Fashion Merchandising and Design. “Women in business was a topic close to Stacey’s heart,” Natalie says. “She spoke at Shoals Women in Business events and encouraged so many others to pursue their passions.”

Through it all, her defining qualities never changed. “Stacey was the friend you want to have in your life. She was a planner and a doer. But she also had that artistic side that loved anything vintage or repurposed. She loved her husband, Ken, and her daughters, Harper and Claire, so much. And what I want people to know is that Stacey was a spitfire. She fought for what she valued and championed for other people.”

Family was central to everything she did. “She was the oldest child and planned every holiday, birthday, and gathering,” Natalie says. “Her parents, Linda and Jerry Hudson, and her siblings, Brian, Katie, and Kevin, along with her nieces and nephews, were all loved so much.”

When Stacey passed away unexpectedly on December 15, 2021, her absence was felt deeply across the Shoals and beyond. The day after her funeral, longtime Reclaimed Spirit employee Amy Childers opened the store, and every one of Stacey’s paintings sold. In the days that followed, Amy kept the shop going, honoring Stacey’s creative legacy in the space she loved most.

By February 2022, Natalie stepped into the role her friend had once asked her to fill. “Ken was planning to sell the store and wanted to see if I had any interest in running it first,” Natalie says. “While I had turned Stacey down many times before for various reasons, this time was different.” Taking the reins of Reclaimed Spirit became Natalie’s way of continuing the story her friend started and a way to keep Stacey’s light alive through art, community, and connection.

Today, Stacey’s spirit lives on in her family, her artwork, her laughter, and in every front porch conversation over coffee and cards. And always, in Grey’s Anatomy.

In her memory, donations can be made to the Stacey Hamner Work-Based Learning Memorial Fund, an endowment through the University of North Alabama Foundation. The fund provides scholarships to students in the Sanders College of Business and Technology and the UNA School of the Arts, an enduring tribute to a woman who creativity and compassion continue to inspire. 78