Dennis P. Kissman, president of the Florida-based firm Marina Management Services, as agent for St. Thomas ’ Crown Bay Marina, announced the Oct. 26th death of Carole Dudley, who had served as an indispensable administrator and goodwill ambassador for the popular Caribbean mega-yacht destination for the past 24 years.
Dudley’s untimely death at age 63 followed a brief but courageous battle with stomach cancer that prompted her early retirement last April as Crown Bay Marina’s director of operations, a position she had held since February 1998. Dudley endured months of medical treatments, shuttling between Florida’s Lynn Cancer Institute and the U.S. Virgins before succumbing quietly at her home on St. Thomas – the island she called home for more than 43 years — close to her beloved Magens Bay.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1946, Carole DiGangi was the daughter of Joseph DiGangi, a bricklayer who enjoyed a place in baseball history as the New York Yankees’ bullpen catcher for the legendary 1933 team that saw 11 members inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Phil Rizzuto. She was raised in Lakeville, Connecticut, and completed high school before moving to St. Thomas with family in 1964, where her father built condominiums, her mother ‘Connie’ managed a Cardow Jeweler’s store in Charlotte Amalie, and her twin brother Joe DiGangi Jr. taught at a flight school. Carole graduated from the College of the Virgin Islands in the late 1960s. Former spouses include Eric Simmons and George Dudley.
She was recruited by Crown Bay Marina in 1986 as executive secretary to the development team during the marina’s construction phase. “In the death of Carole Dudley, the V.I. marine industry mourns the loss of one of its most capable and highly-respected professionals,” said Kissman, who is quick to explain that Dudley’s legacy extends well beyond the Caribbean to the U.S. East Coast, Europe and the Mediterranean, where yachting professionals in the global community consistently cite Dudley’s hands-on management style and personal touch brand of hospitality as key factors in Crown Bay’s continued success as an independently-operated working marina in a competitive Caribbean market.
Reflecting the sentiments of professional mega-yacht captains and crew surveyed for the 2010 edition of the “Superyacht Services Guide to the Northern Caribbean,” editor Mark Acosta wrote, “For many years Carole had been the solid foundation of Crown Bay Marina’s success story in setting the standard for true marina customer service throughout the Caribbean region. I know we speak for a multitude of grateful captains when we acknowledge Carole’s unswerving and steadfast approach to looking after the interests and needs of these captains and their yachts;, many of whom have since become loyal repeat clients at Crown Bay , year after year.”
“Carole Dudley was a paradox,” said Kissman. “She was a generous woman who reached out to the less fortunate, yet insisted upon anonymity; she was a deeply private person who spent her professional career in a very public arena ,yet she never missed an opportunity to foster personal relationships that built bridges within the boating community. Carole touched nothing that she didn’t help brighten and make better.”
Keenly attuned to the concerns of others, her countless, personal, handwritten notes on her signature stationary, embossed with a single gold palm tree, survive today as treasured mementos as a testament to her thoughtfulness and compassion.
Dudley is survived by her mother, Constance DiGangi of Coronado, California; twin brother, Joseph DiGangi Jr. of Santa Cruz, New Mexico; and companion of the past 10 years, John Olson of St. Thomas. A private cremation service was held on St. Thomas.
Friends and colleagues are invited to gather from 4-7 p.m., this Friday, Nov. 6, at Crown Bay Marina for an informal celebration of Carole’s life. A more formal ceremony is planned for January 2010, to dedicate the Carole Dudley Memorial Courtyard, currently under construction at Crown Bay Marina. Inspired by Caribbean architectural styles that create tranquil, private spaces within public outdoor places, the courtyard will incorporate a freestanding pergola for shade, a swinging chaise, and brilliant patches of bougainvilleas – all designed to provide a refuge from the bustle of a busy marina where visitors may pause to reflect on the life of this remarkable woman, socialize with friends, or simply enjoy an expansive view of the Caribbean Sea.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the hospice provider, CONTINUUM CARE INC., 50 Estate Thomas, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 00802. Condolences may be sent c/o Crown Bay Marina, Suite 528, Parcel 8168 Sub Base, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 00802.
