William Dudley McGarity, Jr.

William Dudley McGarity, Jr. was born August 3, 1941, in Orlando, Florida to Harriet Burton McGarity and William Dudley McGarity, Sr. Though given his father’s name at birth, he would come to be known by many other names.

The Man with Many Names grew up in Orlando. To his family, he was Bubba; to his childhood friends with whom he played football and water skied in gator-infested lakes, he was Dudley. After graduating from Edgewood High School in Orlando, he went on to attend the University of Florida where he studied physics and joined Phi Delta Theta where his fraternity brothers began calling him Mac - the name by which most folks would come to know him later. It was at the University of Florida where he not only became a lifelong Gator fanatic, but also where he met  the beautiful ADPi sorority sister, Dana Woodward. They fell in love, got engaged, and married immediately after college graduation in 1963. This union earned him the term of affection, “Hone,” which the two would use as their primary name for each other for the next 51 years.

Upon graduation, Mac joined the U.S. Navy attending OCS in Pensacola to become an officer (he was always a gentleman!). As a naval aviator for 20 years, he served in the Vietnam War, was an ROTC instructor, went to sea on the USS John F. Kennedy, travelled the world, and served at air stations across the country before serving his final tours in Pax River, Maryland. After serving in the Navy for 20 years, he joined DCS Corporation as an engineer supporting the DOD.

Mac and Dana moved across the country multiple times during their life together, and along the way, they started a family. Their firstborn, Molly, had the honor of bestowing a new name on him: Dad. This was one of his favorites. So much so that he took it up two more times with John and Anna.

Mac was an active and engaged member of the community of St. Mary’s County for more than 40 years that included volunteer service with Church of the Ascension and Christ Church, local non-profits like St. Mary’s Caring, youth sports, local politics, and the St. Mary’s Rotary club, which he served as a member, officer and President. He spent the last five years of his life in Lake Monticello, Virginia, where he made a big impression in a short time as a resident of Fluvanna County and member of Grace Episcopal Church and the Charlottesville Committee on Foreign Relations.

While his friends and colleagues most often called him Mac, he was also known around town as the Ol Gator because of his love for his Alma Mater – a fact reflected on his personalized license plate.

There is no doubt he loved this country, but he also had an affinity for Ireland. He spent years tracing his roots across the pond to the Emerald Island, landing on his ancestral village of Roscommon. Mac and Dana spent their 40th wedding anniversary there with their children and grandchildren, and again several years later when he was given the honorary title Chieftan of Fuerty. A name he cherished enough to make business cards to hand out to anyone with even the slightest brogue.

In addition to the many names, Mac also held many titles: Son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, friend, Christian, and Naval Officer, just to name a few. While he may have collected names like a beachcomber collects shells, the last was one he chose for himself. Upon becoming a grandfather, he chose to be called Big Daddy as a call back to his southern heritage.

William Dudley McGarity, Jr. died on March 5, 2025, peacefully, at home. He was preceded in death by his wife Dana, his parents Harriet and William McGarity, and the grandmother who helped raise him, Florence Skidmore Burton. He is survived by his sister Margaret Dee McGarity and her husband Jeffrey R. Riepl, his children and their partners Molly McGarity Fulton and Gabriel Watson, John Burton McGarity and Tiffany Walling McGarity, and Anna Margaret McGarity and J. Robert Becklund; his grandchildren Kyle and Bryan Ciaccio, France Noelle Fulton, William Robert Scott Fulton, and Dexter Becklund; and his great-granddaughter Margaret Lestelle “Stella” Ciaccio.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, March 24, 2025, at 2:00 PM, at Grace Episcopal Church, 5607 Gordonsville Rd. in Keswick, VA, with a gathering at his home in Lake Monticello to follow.

Thacker Brothers Lake Monticello Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

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