Hundreds mourn Westfield teen
By Layla Wilder
Hundreds of people gathered last weekend to honor the memory of a Westfield High School student who was killed in a car crash.Cameron Dudley, a 15-year-old who loved people, sports, and jokes and wanted to become an aerospace engineer when he grew up, died Aug. 8 after a car driven by his older brother, Jeremy Dudley, crashed into a tree.
The boys were traveling south in a BMW on Bull Run Post Office Road when the crash occurred, according to police reports and a Facebook page created in Cameron's memory. Cameron was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Family, friends, and neighbors of the Dudley family crowded onto the football field at Westfield High School the following week, speaking about the boy's sense of humor and his commitment other people, Ginger Katz, a friend of the family, said. At the end, the mourners waved glow sticks and sang "I Believe I Can Fly."
The crowds speak volumes about how tight-knit the Westfield community is and what an “amazing kid,” Cameron was, Doug Ewell, the school's head varsity basketball coach, said.
Cameron, a rising junior at Westfield, grew up in the Centreville area and was involved with many of its youth organizations, including Boy Scout Troop 1995, the Northern Virginia Chapter of Jack and Jill America Inc., and the Southwestern and Chantilly Youth Associations. He was raised by his parents, Mandel and Anitta Dudley, and was close to his 19-year-old brother.
The family was at Cameron's funeral service at Chantilly Baptist Church, supported by a crowd of people who packed two auditoriums and hallways.
At the service, the Rev. Jerry Bryant called Cameron a leader who lived a "full life."
"Cameron was a great kid and no matter what association brought you here this evening, whether it be friend, brother, teammate, or son, we all love and miss him," Katz, a Centreville mother who is involved with Southwestern Youth Association basketball, said at the vigil.
“You're missed all the way around the world,” reads one of the postings on the Facebook page.
According to an obituary printed in a colorful program handed out at his funeral service, Cameron was a member of Westfield's JV basketball team who was able to quote the latest statistics from ESPN.com and loved to discuss players and teams.
He was also an usher and a member of the choir at Chantilly Baptist Church.
"If we simply bow our heads and lament the loss of Cameron, we do not do his life justice," Katz said. "We must honor him by reaching out to others, by speaking his name freely, by sharing stories about his life now and always."