Profile: John Dukes III,
Dr. Buggs Exterminators, Inc.
By Ernie Neff

Successful black pest professional passes principles and knowledge to a new generation.

  For 22 years, John Dukes III has lavished personal attention on every customer of Dr. Buggs Exterminators. Even when he’s had technicians working for him, he’s never let a customer go more than three months without seeing the boss. “Always be able to take care of the destiny of the company by being able to take care of everything myself” is one of his principles.

  So, guess what this man so concerned about control of his destiny is going to do within the next few months? He’s going into partnership with a young man who’ll start a pest control operation in Southeast Florida, 300 miles from Dukes’s Gainesville base.  

   “He (Dukes) knows I’m a big thinker,” says partner-to-be Kirphton Fray, who earns his masters degree in entomology this spring at Florida A&M University (FAMU) in Tallahassee. “I envision a bigger company.”       

  Far from being nervous, 50-year-old Dukes eagerly awaits the pending partnership in the Ft. Lauderdale-Miami area. “He (Fray) represents a significant part of my plans for the next 20 years,” Dukes says. “I’m excited; I’m interested in watching him grow and expand.”  Dukes has long known that his children _ a daughter who’ll soon earn a masters degree and a 14-year-old son planning to be a pediatrician _ wouldn’t go into pest control. And that’s OK. 

  What Dukes has long wanted, he says, is a young black student to mentor and work with. “When I leave this earth,” he says, “I want there to be one other person that continues to be the example I’ve been” _ the rare black pest control professional. “And Kirphton’s the one. I had been waiting for him all the years I’d been in business.” 

  Dukes and Fray met and started forming a mentor-protege bond four years ago. University of Florida entomology professor Phil Koehler, Fray’s advisor, had suggested they meet. Koehler, who had sent other minority students to Dukes, said he was a good businessman who could teach Fray the practical side of pest control. The two hit it off. Dukes took Fray with him on pest control calls, eventually letting him work as a technician. 

   First and foremost, Dukes emphasized the importance of keeping good grades and getting a masters degree. The mentor was preaching what he’d practiced. He earned a bachelors in entomology from FAMU and a masters in entomology from Virginia Tech _ where he says he was the first black entomology student _ in the early 1980s.  

    Dukes worked two-and-a-half years for Orkin as a salesman and technician. There, he says, “I learned that when you sell accounts, make sure you have technicians who can deliver what you promise. That’s not an easy thing to do.”    When he started Dr. Buggs Exterminators in 1985, Dukes set rates on the high end of the pest control scale. He and his customers agreed that his college entomology degrees and personal attention entitled him to higher-than-normal compensation. “In four months, I was making more than I was making with Orkin,” he says. 

   Fray agrees with virtually everything Dukes has taught him, including the importance of keeping every customer completely satisfied. “I live by that,” Fray says. “I believe I have the best mentor. He pretty much taught me the ins and outs of pest control. He held nothing back from me. He’s a very intelligent man and a hard worker. The entire Dukes family, they’re like family to me.” 

   So, very soon now, the long-distance partnership between Dukes and Fray will begin. And although Fray will be operating 300 miles away, both are confident it will work. “I’ll be there as much as he needs me,” Dukes says. Then he laughs and adds, “And maybe more.”  

 Fray adds, “If I need any advice, he’s just a phone call away.”  

John Dukes, III

 Born: July 1956 in Gainesville, the son of a teacher and an assistant Alachua County school superintendent 

Education: Bachelors degree in entomology from Florida A&M University (after attending Florida State University for three years); masters degree in entomology from Virginia Tech 

Profession: Owner/operator of Dr. Buggs Exterminators, Inc. in Gainesville 

Family: Wife of 26 years, Audrey; daughter, Brandyce, and son, John IV. Brandyce will complete her masters in mental health counseling at Florida State University this spring; John, 14, plans to be a pediatrician.

Hobbies: Woodworking; tinkering with a 1939 Chevrolet Master Deluxe with a 329-cubic-inch engine that he’s owned since 1984