Enid Elease Dudley

Mother Enid Elease Dudley, devoted mother, prayer warrior, missionary, counselor, singer, usher “par Excellence” and honored servant of God, was born October 15, 1910 to Samuel Hinds and Amy Amelia Branch in Barbados, West Indies, where she received her early education. At the age of twelve, she left Barbados to join her mother in New York. While in New York she helped rear her two sisters Inez and Muriel. It was Enid, who introduced her family to the Lord at the Refuge Temple Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Harlem New York under the leadership of Bishop R.C. Lawson. Eventually, the family moved to Baltimore, Maryland.In 1935 Enid married her life long companion Benjamin Hill Dudley. Of this union, two daughters were born, Delores Urcelia and Brenda Enid. In 1943, being baptized in Jesus name and filled with the Holy Ghost she immediately found the church of her faith on Monument and Eden Streets. Sister Enid Dudley joined the First Apostolic Faith Church of Jesus Christ under the leadership of Elder Winfield A. Showell and worked faithfully. Sister Enid Dudley worked untiringly on various auxiliaries to help build her beloved church for over sixty-two years under the dynamic Pastorate of Bishop Winfield Amos Showell and her present Pastor Apostle Cornelius Showell.In 1958 Sister Reba Jones asked Sister Dudley to work with the Senior Ushers. In 1962, with the permission of Bishop W.A. Showell, she began singing with the Senior Chorus when she was not ushering. Bishop Showell also instructed her to work with Sister Mildred Bowen on the Social Missionaries. As a missionary, Sister Dudley gave out tracks, visited the sick, and went to render services in the jails and half-way houses. At street meetings she witnessed about the love, goodness and mercy of Our Savior. Mother Dudley’s ministry included committed and faithful services as: An Usher on the Senior Usher Board (Financial Secretary and Chaplin); and Advisor to the Young Adult and Cooperative Ushers; a Student in the Turpin School of the Bible; a Missionary on the Social Missionary Board and in 1985 received the “Missionary of the Year” award; an ardent Sunday School student and faithful participant in the Sunday School teacher’s training class; A singer for over forty years on the Gospel Choir, the Temple Choir and Sanctuary Choir. In Mother Dudley’s own words written on February 24, 1989 she stated “I was given many certificates of awards, but nothing will compare with my heavenly reward. Thank god it is well with my soul, sing I joyfully. Thank God for Jesus. He is wonderful!Mother Enid Dudley was known to be a “stern disciplinarian” and yet she was loving, kind and a lot of fun when you really got to know her.She worked for the Johns Hopkins Hospital for over thirty years in the Laundry Department and served as a very efficient Elevator Operator meeting and greeting people for three decades. To maintain her health Mother Dudley walked around Montebello Lake twice, five days per week until 2001.As we look back and remember, Mother Enid Dudley was given to hospitality and sharing her resources to help so many people. She even opened the door of her home so people could receive the Holy Ghost among those were: Brother Mack Eaddy, Brother Daniel Hicks and Brother James Bethea, just to name a few. She would visit the sick but not without carrying them some of her delicious cooking. As a result of her love for people, Mother Dudley has many spiritual sons, daughters and grandchildren that she nurtured down through the years. We will sorely miss her. On December 3, 2005 at 6:15 a.m., our Dear Mother went to live in the presence of God, joining God’s heavenly host of saints who preceded her.Mother Dudley leaves to cherish her memory two loving and devoted daughters, Delores Urcelia Crest and Brenda Enid Dudley; two grandchildren, William Vernon Crest, Sr., (Beverly) and Glenda Urcelia Crest; three great-grandchildren, Dave, Mark and William, Jr.; two devoted sisters, Inez L. Pettis of Hampstead, NY and Muriel L. Chisholm of Flushing, NY; two nephews, Arthur Pettis of Hampstead, NY and Rufus Dudley of Raleigh, NC; one niece, Bessie Jean Guess of Raleigh, NC; one sister-in-law, Bessie Dudley of Raleigh, NC; four faithful cousins, Florette Dottin of Upper Marlboro, MD, Stanley Gibson of Augusta, GA, Cynthia Drayton of Carntria Heights, NY, and Darcy Gibson of Bronx, NY, a special caregiver, Rosie LeGrand, and host relatives, friends, spiritual daughters and sons.

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Enid Elease Dudley

October 15, 1910 - December 3, 2005