A graveside funeral service will be held in Parkhill Cemetery on Tuesday, March 26, 2019 at 2:00 in the afternoon with Reverend Dr. Kevin Calhoun officiating. Family will visit after the service at the graveside.
Mae and Mike Johnson had the first of their two daughters in Milledgeville, Ga., on Oct. 8. Her name was Evelyn Elizabeth. They would later make their home in Winter Haven, Fla.
Evelyn spent the better part of her childhood traveling up and down the east coast with her parents so that Mike, a fruit inspector, could carry out inspections of a variety of fruit crops as they were picked and packed for shipping across the country.
Evelyn attended Auburn University as a young adult and worked in secretarial positions until a serendipitous trip with Mae and Mike to Pennsylvania one fall changed the course of her life. Attending a dinner party not too long after the end of WWII, she found herself sitting across the table from a handsome Army Infantry Captain who had recently returned to the States from the war in Europe. A whirlwind courtship led to marriage three months later. Her husband, Eldridge “Dud” Dudley, who delighted in Evelyn’s small, petite stature nicknamed her “Midget”, which soon was shortened to “Midge”, a name that stayed with her. She began her life in the military by boarding a ship and sailing across the world alone to join Dud in Japan, where he had been stationed. A year later, Midge gave birth to the first of her two daughters in Hokkaido Sapporo, Japan. In 1949, while Dud attended the Army’s Infantry School, Midge, expecting again, returned to Winter Haven to be with her parents and give birth to another little girl.
Midge Dudley embodied the ideal of the career Army Officer’s Wife. His duty was her duty. She packed and unpacked. She settled children in new homes and new schools. She hosted other Army couples and mentored junior officers’ wives. She carried the responsibility of the entire household during the years Dud was stationed overseas on hardship tours. She set up her command in homes based in places like Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.; Ft. Benning, GA.; Fontainebleau, France; Ft. Bragg, N.C.; Ft. Monroe, Va.; Ft. Kobbe and Fr. Clayton, Panama CZ; and Jackson, Miss. Dud and Midge retired in Columbus after a 30 year military career.
Midge has always enjoyed and excels at word games and board games. She has spent many hours sitting on the floor with her four grandchildren playing Scrabble or Monopoly and working crossword puzzles by the thousands.
When she lost Dud in 2006 and her oldest child in 2013, she carried on as she always has, accepting what life hands her and making the best of it. Since moving to Riverplace many years ago, Midge has always had a sweet smile and kind word for all. Those who know her best will agree they have never heard Midge utter an unkind word about anyone throughout her life. That, in itself, is an incredible legacy. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and especially loved her.
She leaves that incredible legacy to be cherished by her daughter, Jan Austin (Stephen) of Nashville, TN; son-in-law, Charles Holmes (Dina) of Columbus, GA; her loving grandchildren: Taylor Holmes (Danielle) of Charleston, SC, Jenifer Goodwin of Nashville, TN, Len Poole of Hermitage, TN and Sara Kinslow of Mt. Juliet, TN; her loving great grandchildren: Ethan Goodwin of Nashville, TN, Gabriel Holmes of Charleston, SC, and Kellan Kinslow of Mt. Juliet, TN.
