Azzi Fudd is accustomed to onlookers noticing her family’s diverse appearance at UConn women’s basketball games. As Azzi herself notes, her mother, Katie, is red-haired and white, while her adoptive father, Tim, is a tall Black man. Her brothers, Jon and Jose, who were once foster children of Tim’s mother, have Guatemalan roots and brown skin.
However, Azzi embraces their differences. “That’s something I love about the way we look,” she stated.
A Family Forged by Choice
The Fudds are a family connected not by blood, but by choice. They’ve shared bedrooms, clothes, meals and car rides. They support each other through big games and tough times, like surgeries. They have nicknames for each other, make fun of each other, and laugh together.
When Azzi was a child, she longed for siblings, requesting a brother or sister every Christmas and birthday. She even saved money to buy a baby. She eventually got two brothers. “They changed my life,” she said. “What a gift.”
How the Fudds Became a Family
Katie Smrcka-Duffy, a single mother, married Tim Fudd when Azzi was a toddler. Tim adopted Azzi quickly. Tim’s mother, Georgia Hecker, frequently fostered children, so Azzi initially knew Jon and Jose as cousins. The brothers were boys she would visit sometimes at Christmas, as she did in 2010.
Azzi remembers getting her first American Girl doll, Felicity, who was a redhead like her mother. It snowed a little, and she thinks it was Jon and Jose’s first time seeing snow. She recalls them building a “really sad snowman” in the front yard.
Brotherly Memories
Jose remembers the personalities that he and Jon had back then. Jose recalls being a “goofball,” a class clown who always wanted to make people laugh. Jon, on the other hand, was very much about his business and didn’t really care if you liked him or not. He was just going to do what he was going to do.
Jose recalls there being pictures of them with Azzi in the snow.
- Katie is red-haired and white.
- Tim is a tall Black man.
- Jon and Jose trace their roots to Guatemala and have brown skin.
In interviews before Azzi’s last March Madness, before she scored 34 points and eight 3-pointers in her finale, the Fudds shared their story, highlighting the unusual circumstances that brought them together. Azzi said, “We are, imperfectly perfect.”