Former Graham County Superior Court Judge Dudley Struan Welker died on May 22, 2023 at his home in Mesa at the age of 90. Mr. Dudley was born in Safford on October 11, 1932, to Struan Welker and Zella (Moody) Welker, from the frontier of Gila. Valley families. After his mother was killed when he was three years old, Dudley was raised by his grandparents JR and Louisa Welker and Edward and Hazel Moody.

He graduated from Thatcher High School in 1950, Eastern Arizona University in 1952, an accounting degree from Brigham Young University in 1954, and the University of Arizona Law School in 1959. He passed the Arizona bar exam in 1959 and became a prominent Graham County attorney. Guy Anderson, a lawyer in Safford.

Dudley met his wife Marilyn Post from Tucson while attending the University of Arizona. The two married on September 16, 1960, in the Mesa temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and settled in Thatcher. They remained with Thatcher until 2006, after which Dudley retired from law and moved to Tucson. Marilyn died in 2010 and Dudley moved to Mesa in 2011.

Dudley is deeply appreciative of his heritage and has made significant contributions to the Gila Valley. During his more than 40 years of private law practice, he represented many prominent Gila Valley companies, including the Graham County Electric Cooperative and the Gila Valley Irrigation District. In 1988 he was elected as a High Court Judge, a position he held for ten years. From 1959 to 2012, Dudley was also Town Attorney for Thatcher, except for ten years as a lay judge. He and Marilyn owned and operated the Consolidated Title Agency (now Pioneer Title) from 1972 until 2003.

Dudley was a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving on missions in the Northwestern states from 1954 to 1956 and teaching adult Evangelical Sunday School classes for many years. He served as president of both his EAC Alumni Association and his EAC Foundation, and Mount He was also active in the Graham Cabin Owners Association. Dudley enjoys working in his cabin at Welker’s Turkey Flat, which has been owned by his family since the 1930s, and is an avid reader with an interest in all kinds of history: legal, military, church, family and local. was.

Dudley is survived by one child, Susan (Carl) Turley, who lives in Huachuca City. Holly Welker of Mesa. Kathryn (Matthew) Hess from Bountiful, Utah. Lola Lee (Spencer) Jesperson of Mesa. and John Welker of Tucson. 15 grandchildren. and nine great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, June 2 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse at 2220 N. Harris Drive in Mesa, and a burial will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, June 3 at the Tucson Bingampton Cemetery. Instead of flowers, the family is suggesting donations to a scholarship fund established last year at the EAC in honor of Dudley. Donations can be made by sending a check to the EAC Foundation, 615 N. Stadium Avenue, Thatcher, Ariz. 85552, or online. eacalumni.org/donate, has received the Dudley S. Welker Memorial Scholarship designation. Arrangements are being made by Bunker Funeral Home at 33 N. Centennial Way in Mesa.