Dorothy Lawson Dudley

Dorothy Lawson Dudley, a lifelong resident of Quiogue, died at her home on Saturday, November 15. She was 95.

The younger daughter of James and Edna Lawson, she was raised in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, at a time when that area was still rural, surrounded by farms, fields and country estates. She attended Brooklyn’s Packer Collegiate Institute and graduated from Dana Hall, a private school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She went on to attend Smith and Goucher Colleges.

In October 1933, she married William H. Dudley, a stockbroker with the New York Curb Exchange, later to become the American Stock Exchange, who was a resident of Westhampton Beach and Brooklyn. They made their first home in Brooklyn, and in 1940 moved to Northport. In 1941, the couple moved to Quiogue.

Family members recalled this week that she was a sprightly, humorous, and active individual who was devoted to the education of her children and to improving the community in which she lived.

She raised three sons, all of whom attended Westhampton Beach schools and went on to college. During these years, she was active in the Parent Teacher Association, becoming its president in the 1950s. Later, she became active in local politics and served as chairperson of the League of Women Voters. She was also a devoted member of the Westhampton Presbyterian Church, where she taught Sunday school, sang in the choir, and became the first female on its Session of Elders.

When her sons became interested in sailboat racing on Quantuck Bay, she participated, helping out as necessary and even sailing as part of the crew. She enjoyed music, attending the opera, and singing in local groups when they performed Handel’s “Messiah” and other works.

After her husband died in 1977, “Dottie,” as she was often called by her close friends, traveled extensively, including trips to England and Scotland, France, Sicily, Italy, Spain, the Holy Land, and Central America. When her granddaughter Jennifer went to Kyoto to study abroad in 1990, Mrs. Dudley traveled with her son and his wife to Japan, Hong Kong, and Macao.

She shone at small gatherings, survivors said this week, made friends easily and had a charming laugh that made those around her feel comfortable. She enjoyed people from all walks of life and had a strong social conscience, they added, and she identified with the aspirations of downtrodden and neglected groups and always wanted to help them if possible. She was a kind and generous person of deep religious faith who lived her Christian beliefs.

In her later days, she read The New York Times daily, the weekly Economist, and biographies, histories and novels. She had read all Patrick O’Brian’s seafaring stories, many of James Michener’s books, and enjoyed discussing politics and other issues of the day. She also enjoyed birds and the sea and, if she could, she would go every day to view the ocean from the top of the dunes at the Quantuck Beach Club.

She is survived by two sons, Bill of Harwood, Maryland, and Rob Gordon Dudley of Eastport; two daughters-in-law, Catherine Ann Pavlak Dudley of Westhampton and Donna Tully Dudley of Harwood; four grandchildren, Jennifer Bee Dudley of Staten Island, Mary Megan Dudley Little of North Carolina, Daniel Dudley of Nevada, and Jesse Dudley of Pennsylvania; and a great-granddaughter, Julianne Charlotte Little of North Carolina.

She was predeceased by her husband, William Henry Dudley; a son, James Lawson Dudley; three brothers, Donald, Norman and Ralph; and a sister, Helen.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 13, at the Westhampton Presbyterian Church, at 2 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Maureen’s Haven, the Peconic Community Council, 554 East Main Street, Suite 303, Riverhead, NY 11901 would be appreciated by the family.