John W. Dudley

Military graveside services for John W. Dudley, 87, of the Stewart Community, will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009, at Stewart Cemetery with Rev. Martin Clickard officiating under the direction of Crawford-A.Crim Funeral Home in Henderson.Mr. Dudley died Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, at a Longview hospital. He was born May 27, 1922, in Gladys, Va. and had lived in the Stewart Community since 1965. He was a Baptist. He retired from Anderson Hickey in the maintenance department in 1986 and retired from the U.S. Air Force.Technical Sergeant John W. Dudley, Rescue and Survival Technician with Operations and Training Division, 6510 Air Base Group, AFSC.He enlisted in the U.S. Army on Dec. 19, 1941 and was discharged on Oct. 24, 1945. He enlisted in the U. S. Air Force on April 19, 1948 and served on continuous active duty until his retirement on July 1, 1965. He served overseas in England, Japan, Morocco and the Azores. While serving in Morocco, he was in Air Rescue and made a jump where his parachute failed to deploy and he miraculously landed "safely and without injury" in the snow covered mountains.During his career, Tech. Sergeant Dudley was awarded the following medals: Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Good Conduct Medal w/one Silver Loop, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal (Japan), National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal w/five Bronze Service Stars, Air Force Longevity Service Award w/ four Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, Republic of Korea PresidentialUnit Citation, United Nations Service Medal and the U.S. Air Force NCO Academy Graduate Ribbon.He was also part of the 3rd Air Rescue, which was the 1st Air Rescue Service for the U.S. Air Force, flying 40 rescue missions into North Korea during the Korean conflict to rescue downed American pilots.He, along with his wife of 56 years, whom he loved so dearly, also loved to garden and raised countless vegetables through the years since his retirement, all for the enjoyent of his family, whom he also loved so much. Family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, at Crawford-A. Crim Funeral Home.He was preceded in death by: parents, Roy Lee Dudley and Rosa Martin Dudley; son, John Edward Dudley; brothers, Roy Dudley Jr. and Carlton Dudley; sisters, Jane Wilson, Emma Reynolds and Gracie Reynolds.Survivors include: his wife of 56 years, Lola Gray Dudley; son, David Dudley and wife Susan of Austin; daughter, Patti Dudley Beall and husband Johnny of the Stewart Community; stepchildren, Linda Latham and husband E. H. of the Stewart Community, Jim Sweeney and wife Sue of the Stewart Community; sisters, Lib Wade of Lynchburg, Va. and Louise Plane of Charlottesville, Va.; brother, Al Dudley of Ashland, Ky.; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.Pallbearers will be the Air Force.

John W. Dudley

May 27, 1922 - November 2, 2009