Judith Skidmore Calderwood

Judith Skidmore Calderwood

Judith Skidmore Calderwood was born in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. As a toddler, she and her family moved to California, first to Bakersfield, then to Shafter and finally to Taft, where she met the love of her life, Clifton Calderwood.

The couple married young and quickly started a family of three girls. Eventually, the family moved to Bakersfield, where they spent nearly five decades. While raising their children, Judy returned to school and earned her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Education and received a teaching credential.

Judy and Clif loved to travel and when their kids were young, they'd pack them in the station wagon and, with tent-trailer in tow, strike out for parts unknown. One summer, they spent three weeks in a whirlwind tour of the US, visiting more than 20 states. To keep the girls entertained, she'd tell outlandish stories of how towns got their names and, when that failed to stop the bickering, she'd toss candy from the front seat, that she kept for just such emergencies.

Children were Judy's passion-her children and other people's children-so she spent her career teaching elementary school. As her daughters grew up, they married and added to the flock of kids she loved. In total, Judy had seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; all of whom she absolutely adored.

The only one she loved more than her kids, was Clif. Judy and Clif were best friends and held hands nearly everyday of their married life. In a last romantic gesture, Judy left this earth on her 56th wedding anniversary.

Judy was predeceased by her parents, Frank and Mary Skidmore and her brother David Skidmore and brother-in-law, Jim Lam. She is survived by her husband, Clifton Calderwood and her children, Debra and Greg Cootware, CherAmi and Danny Daniel, Jennifer and Marc Thurston, and her grandchildren, Stephanie Cootware and her son Levi, Andrew Cootware and his children, Ethan, Dean, Olivia and Wesley, Nicholas Cootware, Anne Marie Cootware, Jared Parks, Madison Parks, and Paige Thurston. She also left behind her beloved siblings, Donna and Bob Briggs, Deanna Lam, Fred and Linda Skidmore and Lee Skidmore.

We miss you mom.

We'll celebrate Judy's life on Thursday, July 26 at 10 a.m. at Greenlawn Cemetery at 2739 Panama Lane.