In Loving Memory of Richard Dudley

Richard Keith Dudley of Seaford, Virginia, passed on from this world and went to glory with God the Father Wednesday evening, February 23, 2022. He had been privately battling Pulmonary Fibrosis. He was born May 18, 1948, and died at the age of 73.

Richard was a man of strong Christian faith who believed that hard work was a gift to provide for his beloved family. Hard work was first instilled in Richard at an early age, beginning when his aunt gave him a wooden toolbox at five years old. Richard eagerly embraced learning how to use the tools that would become his trade and taught himself how to change the world by using his hands and began mastering the skills that would become his passion. By age 16, he was the proud owner of a motorcycle, and by age 18, he owned his first home. Richard’s work ethic propelled him to build a career as a skilled tradesman first completing an apprenticeship as a tool and die maker, and an apprenticeship at the carpenter’s union working as a commercial carpenter, and on additions and remodeling directly for customers. A workplace injury while building a restaurant led to him becoming a maintenance machinist at C&O Railroad.

While helping a friend cut down a Black Walnut tree, Richard fell, shattering multiple bones in his arm, preventing him from being the strong physical laborer he prided himself on being. This tragic accident changed the course of Richard’s life and set him on the path to reinventing himself and becoming a contractor. During the many months that followed recuperating from his injuries, Richard studied the word of God and prayed for a way to provide for his wife, Ellen, and their growing family. Through prayer, Richard was inspired to follow a new vision for his life, not just as a laborer with his hands, but as a laborer with his mind. And so, beginning in 1984, he followed this new vision for his life and became known and beloved in Hampton Roads as an award-winning premier builder of beautiful homes. It was during this time that he began to envision each job from start to finish and would review every detail of the house plans before construction began looking for ways to improve the design. His initial goal was to build starter homes for lower-income families that otherwise couldn’t afford them before market forces eventually dictated he focus on building larger ones. His ultimate goal eventually expanded to building high-quality homes that would last for generations and to provide a legacy for his burgeoning family.

Richard went on to build more than quality 400 homes all over the greater Peninsula area, but more than the structures he built, he shaped lives as well. Since his untimely death, tributes have poured in from friends and business associates with testimonials of how Richard helped them when they were suffering or offered them work, or inspired them with encouragement to persevere. Richard truly loved people and was quick to tell a joke and made everyone he met smile.

In his early days as a contractor, he sought out and absorbed the works of inspirational speakers, such as Zig Ziglar, where he discovered that by changing the way he spoke about his circumstances, he could change the way he felt about them as well. His love for people compelled him to share this unique perspective with others, especially his four children. “I like people and people like me” was an early mantra he taught them and had them repeat back to him when they were having a hard time in school.

Richard brought his whole family into the business, taking his children to the job sites at a young age to observe and help by sweeping up or picking up trash. His two sons, Joshua and John, eventually worked alongside him off and on at various times in different capacities. His passion inspired his daughter, Anna Gimpel, who at a very young age created business cards that read “Anna’s Homes, Inc,” and today is a successful realtor continuing in his footsteps to help people all over Hampton Roads find places to live that they can thrive in. Building was in her blood, and she married a man, Shawn Gimpel, who would eventually become a contractor himself and said that Richard was like a father to him through his friendship, love, and guidance.

While Richard’s contracting company has had many different names, today, Dudley Construction & Remodeling lives on through the shared vision and hard work of his wife, Ellen Dudley as President, his daughter, Elizabeth Dudley, as Business Manager, and Elizabeth’s husband, Steve Weiler, as Field Manager.

On his deathbed, Richard was surrounded by his family and friends and was still pouring life into people by praying for them and encouraging them to remember that God is faithful and will lift them above their circumstances. Only death it seems could slow him down, as he was still responding to business texts from his hospital bed the week of his death. Earlier, in between another multi-day hospital stay the week before, he was walking with the aid of a portable oxygen tank to meet with his close friend and business associate, Don Ligon of Virginia Maid Kitchens, to lay out cabinets in a new house.

Richard is survived by his wife, Ellen Dudley; their children, Joshua Dudley and his wife, Phoebe Lyng Dudley, John Dudley, Elizabeth Dudley and her husband Steve Weiler, Anna Gimpel and her husband Shawn Gimpel; his brother, Dan Dudley; his sister, Anne Harmon; and Richard and Ellen’s grandchildren, Bailee Rose Dudley, James Gimpel, and Vitalijs Gimpel.

The family requests that those who wish to express their sympathy consider making a donation in Richard’s honor to his church’s sidewalk building fund: DreamHouse, 127 Harpersville Road, Newport News, Virginia 23601.

A funeral service will be held Saturday, March 5, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. at New Covenant Church–where Richard and Ellen were married in 1975–located at 1079 Big Bethel Road, Hampton, Virginia 23666.

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