With his family holding his hands and classical music playing softly in the background, Dr. Augustus Baldwin Dudley, Jr. passed away on August 11 at the age of 89 from complications related to dementia. His family will receive visitors on Wednesday, August 14, from 4:00 to 7:00 at 1201 Front Avenue, Apt. 422. Funeral services will be held at on Thursday, August 15, at 11:00 at Trinity Episcopal Church, with Father Timothy Graham officiating. A reception will follow, after which burial will take place at Parkhill Cemetery.
His wife of 54 years, Twyla Pifer Dudley, preceded him in death in 2015. Also preceding him in death were his sister, Ina Dudley Humes, and a nephew, Jim Humes.
He is survived by his son James Dudley and Carmen Luz Dudley, his daughter Elizabeth Graham and Mark Graham, and his grandchildren Michael Dudley, James Graham, Dudley Graham, and Augusta Graham. He is also survived by nephew John Humes and Susan Humes, Jim Humes’s widow Carol Humes, great-nieces Frances Humes, Amy Humes Norris and Charlton Norris, and Sarah Cannon Andre, and four great-great nieces and nephews.
Dr. Dudley was born on August 25, 1929 in Columbus and was baptized at Trinity Episcopal Church. From an early age, his cheerful personality made him many friends. He graduated from Columbus High in 1946 and from the Citadel in 1950. At the Citadel, he decided to go into pre-med because he enjoyed people so much. He said more than once that the Lord must have wanted him to be a doctor, because he saw no way other than divine intervention that he could have passed his college chemistry courses. He graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in 1954 and was an intern and then a resident in internal medicine at the Medical College of Virginia until 1957. He served his country in the Army Medical Corps for two years, most of the time at U.S. Army Hospital Camp Zama in Japan. He then completed his residency in internal medicine at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. He married the former Twyla Pifer in Philadelphia in 1960 and moved back to Columbus, where he practiced internal medicine until 1995.
Dr. Dudley was a doctor of the old style, who made house calls on his patients and kept his records with pen and paper rather than a computer. He spent a great deal of time talking with his patients, saying that this gave him insights that helped him take better care of them.
Dr. and Mrs. Dudley loved to travel. On many of their trips across the country and around the world, they visited friends and former patients of his, and he enjoyed sharing his pleasure with his friends back home by writing postcards during their travels.
Dr. Dudley was a lifelong member of Trinity Episcopal Church, where he served on the Vestry and helped the church resettle a family of Vietnamese refugees. He belonged to the Kiwanis Club of Columbus for 58 years and took particular pleasure in helping judge the club’s scholarship program for eighth graders.
He loved classical music and was an active supporter of the arts, especially the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, serving on its board for several years. He received the G. Gunby Jordan Vision in the Arts Award in 2003. Dr. and Mrs. Dudley played bridge with the same group of friends once a month for over 30 years. Throughout his life, he loved dogs, especially those that were as outgoing and affectionate as he was.
After retiring, he volunteered with many groups. He was a docent at the Columbus Museum for several years. He served as President of the Columbus Men's Garden Club and an officer of the Columbus chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and he was active in Republican Party activities. He was a member of the Friday Friars social club.
Dr. and Mrs. Dudley moved to the Spring Harbor retirement community when it opened in 2005, and he enjoyed making many new friends there. He lived there until his passing. In his last years, he suffered from dementia, but he retained his cheerful nature, his love of music, and his delight in seeing people.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that friends consider remembering him by supporting Trinity Episcopal Church, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, the Kiwanis Club of Columbus, or the Alzheimer’s Association.
Fond memories and condolences may be left for the Dudley family at www.shcolumbus.com
