Dudley, Larkin Sims
Ann Larkin Sims Dudley December 6, 1941 – March 24, 2024
Larkin is survived by her daughter, Drenan Dudley; granddaughter, Abigail Dudley and Abigail’s mother, Deborah Dudley; and many nieces and nephews and their families. She is preceded in death by her husband, Charles “Jack” Dudley; their son, Charles “Chris” Dudley; her parents; and beloved cousins.
Larkin, often described as “small but mighty” at an ultimate height of 5’2”, graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree and from Virginia Tech with a PhD. She met the love of her life, Jack, while at the University of Georgia when they teamed up to play a prank on a professor who often bummed his cigarettes from students. After joining forces in jokes, Jack and Larkin married and enjoyed 54 years of marriage steeped in shared respect for each other, a love of learning, and traveling at every opportunity.
Shortly after marriage, and after a stint living in Oregon and then Georgia again, Larkin moved with her husband and two young children to Blacksburg, Virginia. Following in her own mother’s footsteps, Larkin decided earning an additional degree while raising a family was an exhilarating challenge and attended many youth soccer games and horseback riding shows while she earned her PhD in the early 1990s from Virginia Tech. While at Tech, she served as professor in the Center for Public Administration and Policy in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies and wrote more than 40 publications and directed numerous sponsored research projects. She also served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Organizational Theory and Behavior; and she served in leadership positions for the Southeastern Conference on Public Administration, the American Society for Public Administration, and the National Association of Schools of Public Administration and Affairs. Larkin excelled in topics related to how governments – and particularly the United States government – work and she contributed significantly to research on citizen participation, governance, and organizational challenge.
Larkin was also instrumental in the creation and implementation of the master’s of public administration degree program at Virginia Tech – so much so her colleagues referred to her as the “ethos of the program”. She chaired the program in Public Administration and Policy and the School of Public and International Affairs’ promotion and tenure committee. She also served numerous positions in the Phi Beta Kappa society. After retirement, Larkin was conferred the “professor emerita” title by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors following a recommendation by the Virginia Tech President.
While serious study interested her, Larkin was delighted by engaging and working with students on everything from their academics to their dreams and life goals. If a student stopped by her office, it was not an interruption… it was the purpose of her work! High expectations and tough grading coupled with southern graces earned her a reputation for being tough but fair – in the kindest of ways – and students clamored to have her as an advisor. She often engaged other professors to get involved in student needs as well and on occasion students were referred to Larkin’s husband, Jack, also a professor. No pranks on the students were ever discovered.
With former students placed in government positions at all levels all over the country, Larkin enjoyed a busy retired life for well over a decade. She loved an adventure as much as she hated the cold and took many trips to mostly warm places. As an avid bridge player, book reader, joke teller, and learner, her many circles of friends basked in her warmth and caring. Her smile and laugh uplifted many. Her quiet faith knew no bounds. A typical day right up to the end of her life was going for a swim, playing bridge, mailing one of her frequently sent cards to a family member or friend, contributing to a discussion at a lecture, and maybe topping it off by hanging out at a potluck with the Aging Solos or attending the regular meeting of her book club ironically named the Shrinking Violets (of which there are none).
Larkin often reflected on her happy early childhood days in both Virginia and South Carolina. In the Charlottesville area, she spent time with cousins and learned Sims traditions including the one of having oyster stew for breakfast on Christmas morning which her own family either endured or relished each year. When her father’s job took the young family to the upstate of South Carolina, she quickly took to the town of Gaffney, begged her parents to let her work at a peach stand, and made lifelong friends with a group of gals referred to as “the Herd”. However, her own favorite moniker “Sharkey” came when she was thrilled to become a grandmother to Abby.
For friends of the family and former students in the Washington, D.C. area there will be a celebration of life gathering at Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub, 2800 S. Randolph Street #110, Arlington, VA, on Wednesday, April 3, 2024 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
A funeral will be held at Christ Episcopal Church, 120 Church Street, NE, Blacksburg, VA at 1 p.m., Saturday, April 6, 2024, and a reception will follow after the service in the parish hall.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of the many organizations Larkin so dearly loved.
• Valley Interfaith Child Care Center DONATIONS | VICCC (valleyinterfaithchildcarecenter.org)
• Habitat for Humanity Online Donation – Habitat for Humanity International (In honor of Larkin Dudley, cards may be sent to P.O. Box 6060 Arlington, VA 22206)
• Christ Episcopal Church P.O. Box 164 Blacksburg VA 24063
Cards and remembrances can be received at Drenan Dudley P.O. Box 6060 Arlington, VA 22206 or by email at drenanedudley@gmail.com.
Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg.