Obituary of Thomas Curry "Bud" Dedman Jr.

Thomas Curry “Bud” Dedman, Jr., age 87, 618 Beaumont Inn Drive, widower of the late Mary Elizabeth Ransdell Dedman, died Friday evening at the James B. Haggin Memorial Hospital after an illness. Born December 12, 1915 in Mercer County, he was the son of the late Thomas C. Dedman, Sr. and Pauline Goddard Dedman. He was a 1938 graduate of Centre College with a BA Degree in English and a member of the Beta Theta Phi Fraternity and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2001. As a former Centre graduate and a parent of graduates, he claimed one of his greatest accomplishments was to have had four of his five children to graduate from Centre College and also a former and current Centre grandparent. Every year the 50th, 55th, and 60th Centre College class reunions were held at Beaumont Inn. He also recently served as host for the Vice Presidential Debate moderator Bernard Shaw. He was the owner, proprietor and President of Beaumont Inn Corporation. Mr. Dedman was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II. Throughout his lifetime he worked to establish Beaumont Inn, which has been owned and operated by his family since 1919 and founded by his grandfather the late Glave Goddard, as Kentucky’s most celebrated hospitality landmark and was the third generation in his family to run the Inn. Many of the dishes served at the Inn are from Mr. Dedman’s grandmother. Beaumont Inn is known for Mr. Dedman’s own cured country ham. He and the Inn have been featured in several major hospitality publications, such as Duncan Hines’ Adventures in Good Eating, Gourmet Magazine, Bon Appetit magazine, Southern Living Magazine, Life Magazine, Redbook Magazine, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Kentucky Advocate Magazine, and numerous other publications. In 1979, he and his wife were honored at the Kentuckians Club in New York City with a traditional Kentucky dinner featuring Beaumont Inn recipes. KET and PBS did a feature on Mr. Dedman promoting the history, production, and lore of Kentucky Country Hams. He was the founder of Fort Harrod Drama Productions which is Kentucky’s second longest running summer outdoor theater and was former President of Fort Harrod Productions for 12 years, a former Board of Directors member for the Kentucky State Chamber of Commerce, a former member of the Board of Directors for the Kentucky River Task Force, was named a Kentucky Colonel in 1963 and was a member of the United Presbyterian Church in Harrodsburg. Survivors include three sons, Dr. Thomas P. Dedman, III and his wife Debbe of Louisville, Dr. Nick Dedman and his wife Elaine, Harrodsburg, and Chuck Dedman and his wife Helen also of Harrodsburg; one daughter Libby Dedman Young and her husband Van, Lexington; one sister Anne Dedman Cherry, Harrodsburg, twelve grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a daughter, Anne Dedman Hunt. Funeral services will be conducted 2:00 PM Tuesday at the United Presbyterian Church by Doug Slagle; burial will be in the Springhill Cemetery. Visitation will be held Monday evening from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM at Beaumont Inn and after 12:00 noon at the Church. Pallbearers are Scott Hunt, Jr., John Dedman, S. Dixon Dedman, Jake Heustis, Mark Peeler, Dave Monaco, Chris Watkins, and Anthony Pollio. Honorary bearers are Bob, Bill, Tom, Pete, and Johnny Baughman. Memorials are suggested to the Anne Dedman Hunt Memorial Scholarship Fund, Ft. Harrod Drama Production, Inc., United Presbyterian Church Foundation or Heritage Hospice. Ransdell Funeral Chapel is in charge of arrangements.