Alice Dudley Weeks

Alice Dudley Weeks, 90, of Beaufort, passed away on Saturday, December 9, 2023 at home.

A graveside service will be held at 2:00 pm on Thursday, December 14, 2023 at Oceanview Cemetery with Pastor Richard Patterson officiating.

On December 9, 2023, Alice Gray Dudley Weeks tipped her last jump ball, made her last 2-point basket, and threw her last in-court pass which was deftly caught by her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Strong and independent to the end, she lived her life on her own terms. She took her last breath on the same date of December 9th that her beloved husband took his, twenty-four years earlier. It was not surprising that she also died on her own terms.

Born on April 2, 1933, to the fishing Captain Eugene Dudley and wife Ollie, Alice grew up in the close-knit community of Lennoxville Point. Beaufort was a different place back then. Pogy boats lined Front Street and factories' smokestacks loomed over the bustling little town. Transportation was either by foot or by her daddy’s wooden skiff. Alice was captain of her high school basketball team. It was at one of her games that she caught the attention of the man who would become the love of her life. After high school graduation she turned down the offer of nursing school to marry the handsome Orville Gray Weeks. She said that she never regretted her decision. In the early years of their marriage, she followed him to Mississippi and Louisiana as he built a reputation as the best engineer of

any commercial fleet around. Later he sailed with the R/V Eastward and became Chief Engineer on Duke’s R/V Cape Hatteras. Alice loved to travel and she rode the seas with him to many exotic ports. The truth is that Alice would have followed Orville anywhere. Their forty-seven year union was a model of family, faith and love.

Their first child, a girl, was born in 1954. A second daughter followed in 1958, with the third daughter arriving in 1962.

Alice and Orville knew the value of education and sacrificed to send their three daughters to college. Alice was always so proud of their girls. In time came three beautiful granddaughters of whom Alice was even more proud. The girls have such wonderful memories of their “Grannie” who was never too busy to read books to them, play with them, or sing to them. She rocked them many miles in the backroom rocker.

Left to treasure those precious memories are her daughters; Donna Nell Lewis (Jack) of Beaufort, Linda Diane Gillikin (Orville) of Beaufort, and Aprille Ann Gillikin (Paul) of Harker’s Island. Alice and Orville were blessed with three granddaughters. Their youngest granddaughter, Alexandra Faith Gillikin was tragically killed on May 7, 2022. Her surviving granddaughters are Amanda Gray Dixon (Zack) of Beaufort, and Ashley Brianna Pietris (Joseph) of Williamsburg, VA. Alice is also survived by her great-grandsons, Leonardo Pietris, Elijah Gray Pietris and Logan Dixon; her sister, Sylvia Jean Garner; as well as many beloved nieces and nephews. Mourning her loss is one faithful little companion, Mojo, who never left her side.

Alice was preceded in death by her husband, Orville Gray Weeks; parents, Eugene and Olia “Ollie” Dudley; and her three brothers, Ralph Leo Dudley, Allen Ray Dudley and Harold Monroe Dudley.

Condolences and life tributes may be sent to the family at www.noefs.net

Arrangements by Noe Funeral Service, of Beaufort, NC.