- Date Of Birth: December 13, 1930
- Date Of Death: July 30, 2021
- State: North Carolina
Mary Virginia Dudley Aldrich, the first born to Elisha Porter Dudley and Virginia Bell Register Dudley, began her earthly journey on December 13th, 1930 in Hallsboro, North Carolina. She entered Eternal Life Friday, July 30, 2021.
She was reared on the family farm in Columbus County, along with her siblings, Maggie Dell (deceased), Coriene, Celes, Ella, William, and Rosetta. She was baptized in and later became a member of New Light Baptist Church, Hallsboro, North Carolina in 1943.
Mary was educated in the Columbus County School system and graduated high school from Whiteville Negro High School, Class of 1949. She then attended Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and was a resident of Estey Hall, the second building constructed for higher education of African-American women in the United States. While there she joined First Baptist Church in 1949, and also became a WatchCare member of the church. She further joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, being initiated as a member of Shaw’s Beta Rho Chapter in December 1952. She graduated and earned her Bachelors of Arts degree in English in 1953. She next attended North Carolina College in Durham, North Carolina where she earned a Masters of Arts degree in English.
Mary’s inaugural teaching assignment was at her former high school, which had been renamed Central High School of Whiteville. She taught English. While there she met her future husband, Charles E. Aldrich of Salisbury, North Carolina, and was married in 1957. To this union, Charles E. Aldrich II was born in 1959.
In 1962, she began teaching English & Literature in the Raleigh Public Schools at John W. Ligon Jr.-Sr. High School. While at Ligon, she became an Assistant Director of the Drama & Theatre Department. In 1965, her family of three moved to Raleigh, North Carolina.
She continued teaching at Ligon High School until 1973, when the Raleigh Public Schools integrated. At that time, she transferred to William G. Enloe High School where she taught English & Literature until her retirement.
During her professional teaching years, she became a member of Alpha Theta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina. She served in the following leadership positions: Graduate Advisor, Parliamentarian, and President, and was a Life Member of the Sorority. One of her most cherished Sorority projects was coordinating the Debutante Ball booklet for 30+ years. In 2019, she was honored as a HBCU Hidden Figures Award Recipient for “significant accomplishments and outstanding achievements in her field and/or in the community.” For having given 65 years of dedicated service, she became a member of the inaugural class of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Pearl Sorors in 2020.
She was an avid supporter of Whiteville High School (formerly Central High School) and Shaw University Alumni Associations. She also had a lifelong devotion to the Musical Fine Arts as a piano artist. In Hallsboro through her college years, she played for, sang in, and sometimes directed her church choirs. After moving to Raleigh, she also sang with the First Baptist Church choir. She was a patron of the arts, and frequent attendee of fine arts performances at Memorial Auditorium and Friends of the College at N.C. State University.
Mary’s life is celebrated by her son, Charles E. Aldrich II, his spouse Jill J. Frank-Aldrich, and her grandson Charles E. (“CJ”) Aldrich III, all of Escondido, California. Her life is also celebrated by her only brother – William H. Dudley of Wilmington, N.C.; four sisters – Marsha Coriene Scurry of Fayetteville, N.C., Celesta Jane Dudley of Wallington, New Jersey, Ella Patterson of Vienna, Virginia, and Rosetta Mitchell of Carolina Beach, N.C.; a brother-in-law – O’Neil Mitchell, also of Carolina Beach, N.C.; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family, Sorority Sisters, and cherished friends.
Shaw University, Office of Institutional Advancement
Attn: Marilyn Baldwin-Richards
118 E. South Street
Raleigh, N.C. 27601
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Alpha Theta Omega Chapter – Program Support
P.O. Box 25578
Raleigh, N.C. 27611-5578
Transitions LifeCare
250 Hospice Circle
Raleigh, N.C. 27607
