Lasting Memories

Cosette A. Dudley
Aug. 6, 1935-Sept. 14, 2022
Atherton, CA

Cosette Dudley died peacefully on September 14th, at home in Atherton with her two daughters, Lynette and Virginia, at her side and surrounded by the love of all her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her passing was blessed with grace, serenity and beauty. Cosette will be remembered for her deep love of family and close friends, warmth and generosity, elegant style, involvement in the visual and performing arts, and her passion for peace and social justice.

Cosette was born in Sacramento, California in 1935, the only child of Charles and Kathleen. Cosette was athletic, both on the baseball field with the neighborhood kids and at the skating rink as a graceful competitive figure skater. She loved music from a young age, inspired by her father’s gorgeous singing voice.

Cosette met Malcolm at her summer job working at the Sacramento Bee Newspaper. As two young college students, they were married in 1954 and their first daughter, Lynette, was born the following year. With the help of grandparents, Cosette was able to balance motherhood and student life, attending Sacramento City College from 1954-1955, where she studied art with Wayne Thiebaud, and then University of California, Davis in 1957. From 1958-1961 the young family of three lived in London, England, where Malcolm worked for the U.S. Navy Command. Cosette loved exploring the beauty of England and Europe, and there began her lifelong love of travel.

On returning to the U.S. in 1961, the family moved to Atherton, where Cosette and Malcolm remained. They chose this location to best enable Cosette to finish her college education at her mother’s alma mater, Stanford University. She graduated in 1964 with a degree in English Literature, and worked the next three years as a Social Worker in San Mateo County until they had their second daughter, Virginia, in 1967.

During the late 1960’s, Cosette joined the growing number of citizens rising up to protest the continued U.S. involvement in Vietnam. She actively worked in the peace movement and was a founding member of the Peace Union in Palo Alto in 1970. She returned to art as a medium to further express herself on themes of social justice, civil liberties, war and peace, and the environment. She took etching classes with Mr. Appleton at College of San Mateo and in 1971 she was a founding member of Apple Tree Press printmaking studio, of which she was a member until it closed in 2003. She was also a member of Women’s Caucus for Art and the California Society of Printmakers.

When Cosette started driving Virginia to figure skating lessons, she decided to start skating again herself, which she continued to do for many years. She became a figure skating judge for the Peninsula Figure Skating Club and was awarded judge emeritus from the USFSA in 2011, after 30 years of judging figure skating around the country. Cosette was also a devoted volunteer for the San Francisco Symphony League, and a supporter of the arts throughout her life.

Cosette enjoyed going to Europe, Japan, Indonesia, Tibet and Bhutan to travel with Virginia. Then in 1991 she took a meaningful trip to Vietnam and Cambodia on her own. She loved being a grandmother to Chris and Thomas, who lived nearby in Menlo Park and then again 20 years later when her next two grandchildren, Charlie and Sierra, were born and lived in neighboring Palo Alto. Cosette and Malcolm loved having family close by and connected, with many regular activities together.

Cosette was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Malcolm H. Dudley, who died last year. Despite the tremendous grief of losing her lifelong partner, Cosette was able, with the loving support of family, friends, caregivers and church community, to continue to lead a rich and fulfilling life this past year doing many of her favorite things. She still attended her full San Francisco Ballet series, regularly visited Filoli Garden, enjoyed coffee and meals out, read her favorite books, enjoyed the beauty of her own home and garden, and she especially loved her recent annual vacation to Camp Richardson Resort, South Lake Tahoe, where she celebrated her 87th birthday with her whole, loving family.