Senator Fred Dudley

Former State Senator Fred Dudley passed away peacefully on Monday, July 13th at his home on Lake Yvette in Havana, Florida. Fred was born on November 8, 1944, in Ft Myers, Florida. After graduating from Ft Myers High School, Fred attended the University of South Florida before earning his law degree at Stetson College of Law. He was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1968. Fred was a proud member of the Reagan Revolution, campaigning for President Reagan in Southwest Florida and even taking his family to the first Reagan Inauguration on January 20, 1981, in Washington, DC. His love for politics materialized in 1982, when Fred won a seat in the Florida House of Representatives, the first Republican elected to the Legislature from Lee County. Four years later in 1986, he was elected to the Florida Senate, a seat he would hold for the next 12 years. He joined with 14 other Republican Senators in 1986 to establish a “coalition” of Republicans and Conservative Democrats to control the Florida Senate. He was incredibly proud to be part of the 1994 Republican take-over of Florida state government, serving as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, and Vice-Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The highlight of his legislative career came in 1991, when Senator Dudley led the charge to create Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers as the state’s 10th public university. To this day, a door signed by all 81 graduates of the first FGCU Commencement hangs in his home. Fred was known as a brilliant attorney and a tough negotiator. In 1995, he was honored to be inducted into the Stetson Law School Hall of Fame in recognition for his profound impact on the legal profession and on Stetson Law. In 2008, he was honored to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Construction Law Committee of the Florida Bar. Fred was preceded in death by his father, Bert Dudley; his mother, Kathleen Wilson; and his stepfather, Jess Wilson. He is survived by his former wife, Carol Dudley, and their two sons, Charles (Alison) and Chris (Susanne); four grandchildren: Chas Dudley, Emily Dudley, Colgan Dudley, and Levi Dudley; his sister, Mary Ann Goss (Jim); and his brother, Bill Wilson (Kathleen). The funeral service will be held at 3:00PM on Sunday, July 19, 2026, at Bevis Funeral Home, 200 John Knox Road in Tallahassee. Rocky Bevis and Kelly Barber of Bevis Funeral Home (850-385-2193 or www.bevisfh.com) are assisting the Dudley family with their arrangements.

Tributes

Senator Fred Dudley

November 8, 1944 - July 13, 2026