The Reverend Michael DeVere Dudley

One of God’s gentlest, most brilliant and gifted souls, Michael DeVere Dudley, born in Sandusky, Ohio, on Easter morning 1941, the only child of William Oliver Dudley and Doris Josephine Leffler, died June 25, 2022 at the Episcopal Church Home in Rochester, NY, after years of living with Parkinson’s Disease. Raised by the ‘best parents in the world’ at Marion, Ohio, he was a graduate of Otterbein College and the University of Mississippi. He completed coursework in Library Science at SUNY, Geneseo (NY). He taught junior high English in the Vermilion (Ohio) Schools and was a school librarian. After the death of his parents, Michael entered seminary at Seabury-Western in Evanston, Illinois, and was ordained Priest at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Youngstown, in 1982. He served churches in Ohio, California, and Massachusetts. He was Rector of Church of Our Saviour in Akron, Ohio, for ten years – a place he loved and where he was beloved for his dedication, pastoral sensitivities, progressive theology, and his openness, love, and inclusion of all people. He was truly a beloved child of God.

In the summer of 1991, in Akron, Michael met the love of his life, (The Rev.) David Hefling, and on February 14, 2006, they were married at Boston City Hall. For a brief time they shared their lives with a foster son, Corey, adored to this day. Survivors, in addition to his husband, include a brother-in-law, the Rev. Dr. Charles Hefling of Cambridge, MA., and cousins in Ohio, in addition to friends across the country and around the world. Michael’s family is grateful for the love and care provided at Quail Summit in Canandaigua and the Episcopal Church Home in Rochester and to those who made his last months more comfortable and pleasant.

A Requiem Eucharist will be celebrated by the Right Reverend Mark Hollingsworth, Bishop of Ohio, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Canandaigua, NY, Saturday, July 16 at 11 a.m. Michael’s ashes will be interred at St. John’s Columbarium and at Union Cemetery, Uhrichsville, Ohio. Memorial gifts may be made to St. John’s Episcopal Church, 183 N. Main St., Canandaigua, NY, 14424. “Life is short and we do not have too much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. So be swift to love and make haste to be kind. And may the blessing of the One who made us and who loves us and who travels with us be with you and those you love dearly this day and always. Amen.”