Retired businesswoman and community patron Audrey Dixon Settle died Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, at age 76, leaving behind a personal and professional history that touched many.

Settle was born to Roy Lee and Eddythe Mae Dixon on Feb. 2, 1948 in Detroit. The middle child of a family of five, Settle was noted early on for her exceptional intelligence. Her gifts led her to New York to attend Keuka College on an academic scholarship.

Settle’s education laid the foundation for a diverse and impactful career in financial services. Notably, she achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first Black woman to hold executive positions at Philip Morris USA in both New York and Richmond.

Settle retired and married veterinarian John E. Settle Jr. in 1998.

Outside her career, Settle was a passionate philanthropist, donating time, money and personal resources to many causes and charities. In 2015, she and her husband established the Dixon-Settle Fund for Women at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation in tribute to her mother’s work with women’s issues and job training. She and her husband also supported education through scholarship programs at colleges across the country.

Other organizations Settle supported included the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ACLU Virginia Foundation, Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center, the Chrysler Museum of Fine Art and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. 

Settle also was a board member for the Richmond Free Press, helping support the paper’s early development and investing in the Imperial Building where the company is headquartered.

“She was incredibly generous of spirit,” Richmond Free Press publisher and co-founder Jean Boone said, describing Settle as a dutiful board member and “quiet warrior” who nonetheless had a passion for truth-telling.

“She saw the Free Press as a vehicle to tell the truth about issues that affect people in Richmond, particularly people of color.”

Settle was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and sister Gwendolyn Dixon West. She is survived by her brother, Lloyd Dixon, niece Shannon West, nephew Miles West, stepchildren John Settle III, Hope and Angela Settle, grandchildren J. Aedan Settle and Raven Maier, and cousins Ovetta Williams, Mary Thomas, Dorothy Scott and Ida Larkins.

A memorial service and reception will be held at the Princess Anne Country Club, at 3800 Pacific Ave.,Virginia Beach at 1 p.m. Oct. 11.