Richard Harrison Dudley

Richard Harrison Dudley, of Orange City, Florida, passed away on 5 November. He was with his wife of 69 years, Ruth Ellen Dudley, at the time.

Richard was born in 1931 in Los Angeles, where his father was the bookkeeper to a prestigious Hollywood auto dealer, but spent much of his childhood and youth in Harvard, Mass, surrounded by Dudley cousins and relatives. He learned to fly at age 16 in a local farmer’s Piper Cub, and continued to fly for the next 6 decades. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science from Columbia University in 1953 as a Navy ROTC candidate, and married Ruth, a schoolteacher and artist. The couple deployed to Pensacola, Corpus Christie, and San Diego, CA, where Dick piloted giant flying boats, ultimately patrolling the South China Sea for Russian and Chinese submarines and spy ships. He attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and, upon discharge, earned his PHD in Metallurgy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was recruited by Bell Laboratories in 1961, and he and Ruth moved to Allentown, PA, where they raised sons Scott and Peter. Dick would be instrumental in the early development of silicon semiconductors, and the first 64K memory chip. Dick continued to fly, including annual family vacations to Eleuthera, Bahamas. A promotion in 1985 led them to Orlando, FL, where Dick established a new Western Electric chip production facility. In 2000, Dick and Ruth began construction of a fully aerobatic light plane in their garage, working side-by-side for the next 2 years. They would eventually fly that plane up the coast to visit family and friends. They ultimately moved to a retirement village in Orange City, FL in 2013.

Richard is survived by his beloved wife, Ruth; two sons, Scott and Peter; and two grandsons, Jasper and Tyler.

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