Dudley B. Priester ’45

Dudley died Jan. 23, 2017.

He was born in Davenport, Iowa, and attended the Lawrenceville School before entering Princeton. He earned a degree in civil engineering prior to enlisting in the Navy.

During World War II he served as a lieutenant in the Seabees, a construction brigade. He was a pontoon causeway platoon officer with the 111th Naval Construction Battalion, Navy Civil Engineer Corps in Samar, an island in the Philippines, and Guam. Following active duty he returned to Davenport in 1945 to join the Priester Construction Co., of which he eventually became president.

He married Jean Elizabeth Hansen in 1947. As a member of the Naval Reserve he was called to serve in Korea in 1950. Dudley also gave back to his his community as board member and president of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and the Davenport Art Museum, as board member and vice president of the Putnam Museum, and as president of the Outing Club and the Town Club.

At Priester Construction Dudley oversaw projects such as the Modern Woodmen of America headquarters, the Davenport Public Library, the Scott County Courthouse, Temple Emanuel Synagogue, Northwest Bank Towers, and the Priester Building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Dudley was an avid stamp collector, specializing in Scandinavian, British Colonial, and German stamps. He collected antique iron — including a Civil War cannon and a steamboat anchor. He was also a collector of nonfiction books about the Mississippi River and compiled a bibliography of them all.

Dudley is survived by his wife of almost 70 years, Jean; children Bill, Nancy, Ted ’72, Charlie, and Mary; grandchildren Helen, Jane, Susannah, Sarah, Marion, John, Krista, Claire, and Joseph; and great-grandchildren Lily and Joaquin.