Doris Jewell Dudley

Doris Marlow Dudley, beloved wife, mother, and friend of many, left this earthly life and began her eternal life Saturday, May 7, 2022. Graveside services will be 10:30 a.m., Saturday, May 21, at Oakwood Cemetery, with Rev. Ryan Barnett officiating. Her family also invites you to a reception at 11:45 a.m. at First United Methodist Church and will welcome visitors at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 20. Doris was born January 21, 1932, to A.L. and Jewell Clifton Marlow in Waco. She lived almost her entire life in Waco, where she had happy childhood memories of riding the bus downtown on Saturdays to attend the kiddie’s matinee and eating a creampuff from Keaton’s Bakery while waiting in line at the Waco Theater. Doris attended Sanger Avenue Elementary, West Junior High, and Waco High School where she was elected Waco High’s first female Mayor. Her 1949 senior class was very special, having won the football state championship in the fall. After high school Doris graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education from Baylor University, where she was a member of the Alpha Omega sorority that later became Pi Beta Phi. Doris met Dan Richard Dudley at a youth choir rehearsal at First United Methodist Church. They were married at FUMC on May 26, 1951, after Richard graduated from Baylor Law School, and they remained active church members all their lives. They were members of the Odell Dudley Sunday school class, founded by Richard’s mother, and in 2004 the church honored both of them when they retired from the choir after 58 years. Richard and Doris’ marriage was blessed by two wonderful daughters, Dana and Amy. After teaching first and second grade for Waco ISD for over ten years, Doris earned a master’s degree from Baylor in guidance counseling and was a counselor at University High School for twenty-one years. After retiring from WISD in 1989, Doris worked as counselor at other Region Twelve schools in the area. Doris was an organizer and detail person. She arranged for and accompanied seniors at First Methodist on several trips, both domestic and international, and also served as Treasurer and Chairman of the Board at East Terrace. She and Richard loved to entertain and are still remembered for their Fourth of July breakfasts and football “bowl” parties. More recently Doris enjoyed her Wednesday “lunch bunch”, her weekly Onze group, and having friends over for “Movie Sunday” – and of course there was bridge. Doris and Richard had learned bridge from Doris’ mother, and their Friday night bridge club was an important part of their life together. After her retirement Doris began taking bridge more seriously and even gave bridge lessons. She enjoyed playing duplicate bridge for many years in various Waco groups and locales. Doris cherished her family, her many friends, and her church. She was always ready to go on another adventure. She had a full, wonderful life and always felt she had been truly blessed. Even after her stroke in 2020, she remained very positive and enjoyed spending more time with Amy and Dana as they cared for her. Doris was preceded in death by her parents; her in-laws, Odell and Paul Dudley; her brother and sister-in-law, Donald and Shirley Marlow; and in 2013 her beloved Richard. The memory of all of them was precious to her. She is survived by two daughters, Dana Johnson and husband Richard, and Amy Hope Dudley, all of Plano; grandchildren, Mark Johnson of Plano, Jennifer Pagliaro and husband Vincent, of Wylie, and Amy Emory of Spring; great-grandchildren, Brooks and Annabel Emory, Harper and Asher Johnson, and Matthew and Nathan Pagliaro; and by four Marlow nieces – Melissa, Millie, Marsha, and Molly – and their families. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in Doris’ memory may be made to the Music Ministry of First United Methodist Church of Waco.