Jeanne Wasserman Garland
I have so many great memories of Judy from our childhood in Idlewild. Judy had a great laugh, kind of similar to Barth's.. Judy had a way with words. She was very articulate, beautiful and poised and a generous conversationalist, always inquiring about me and my family and sincerely wanting to know how everyone was doing.. Like all the Wurtz's she had a great sense of humor and was particularly good at making up clever nick names for everyone and everything. And once you got one of these names you never lost it, but, it was always spoken with great affection. I will always hear her saying " hey Wilt," in a way that expressed how glad she was to see me. When I think of Judy, I think of her and Lisa spying on Cheri and I playing Barbies -- laughter exploding from under the bed, endless Nancy Drew books and Archie comic books we traded back and forth, fierce badminton tournaments that lasted into the night, and the clear sound of her flute mingling with the morning bird songs in Idlewild. Also I remember the excitement of watching the Summer Olympics, Miss America Pageant, and of course Dark Shadows together. I also remember her wise big sisterly advice when she noticed that Cheri and I were spending too much time pouring over the newspaper, worrying about reports of murders that had taken place in Ann Arbor one summer to the point where we were nervous about being alone. . She sat us down and said something like , " Look, You two are obsessing and scaring yourselves way too much and you need to just stop reading the newspapers right now. Something about her stern big sister tone of voice made us realize she was right, so we stopped reading the papers and went back to the business of childhood, which probably meant reading Tiger Beat magazine instead. I also remember that Cheri and I listened intently years later when she told us about her experience at Michigan State. I feel in that way, she paved the way for us . If Judy said it was a good school and she was having a great experience, that was good enough for me. And that's why I became a Spartan. This is only a snapshot of what I remember about Judy.
Hey Jude, you will be dearly missed. I'm glad that you were a part of my life. I'm glad that your suffering has ended and I'm thinking of you and Barth having a good laugh together right now. Much love, Jeanne