Zenith Areline Judah

Zenith Areline (Kiser) Judah

January 4, 1933 - August 28, 2021

Zenith Areline (Kiser) Judah passed away peacefully with her family by her side on the evening of Saturday, August 28th, 2021 at the age of 88. She was born on January 4th, 1933, to Chester Alton Kiser and Vola Orpha Kiser of Forest Grove, Oregon.

Zenith was raised in Forest Grove where she attended elementary school and graduated from Forest Grove High School. She then went worked for Dr. Nixon in Forest Grove as a dental assistant and receptionist. Through friends, she was introduced to one of the Judah boys of Hillsboro, Oregon, Melvin. It was over a Thanksgiving holiday weekend in 1955 and Mel wasn't going to ever let her go, so he promptly proposed, and she said yes.

Zenith and Melvin were married on April 1st, 1956, which was also Easter Sunday. Zenith didn't immediately catch on to the comedy of the fact that they would be married on April Fool's Day because she had always wanted to be married on Easter Sunday. However, Mel thought it was pretty funny and eventually so did Zenith, so April Fool's Day it was! They even had a big sign on the getaway car the said "April Fool, They Think They're Married!!" It was no joke, they celebrated 63 years of marriage before Mel passed away at their home in January of 2020.

Melvin and Zenith moved to Corvallis, Oregon after Mel graduated from Oregon State University and started to work as a Jr. High School teacher for the 509J school district. They had two children, Kelly, and Eric. Zenith worked as a dental receptionist for Dr. Kenneth Johnson for much of her career in the dental industry until she retired. Throughout their marriage, they loved to go camping and fishing on the Rogue River, camping at the Metolius River, taking yearly trips to Carson City, Nevada to visit Mel's sister and go play the slots at the casinos. Many weekends and holidays were spent in Forest Grove enjoying and celebrating time with family, along with many trips to the Oregon coast for clam digging.

Zenith loved playing cards with family, playing Bunco monthly with her friends, going to the movies and boy did she love her television shows! Game shows, westerns, crime shows, competition shows, even some reality shows! After the grandchildren were born, she became a lover of all things Disney and would go at least once, if not twice a year. She loved being able to spend time there with her family, especially at Halloween and Christmas time. She was a fan of all the princesses but she really loved the villains.

Zenith was a talented and passionate artist in many ways, and she discovered that she loved the art of decorative Toll painting and later became a private teacher for nearly forty years. Her work was meticulous and whimsical. She loved her students and the friends that she met through her art. Later she and her friends were asked to volunteer their time teaching other volunteers how to paint the Historic Albany Carousel animals. One of the more iconic animals Zenith was the most proud of painting was Harriette the Frog. She also painted Adonnis, the Arabian Horse, Munchie, the Lhasa Apso Dog and Patch, the Black Horse. She also assisted on quite a few others with her good friend Lynne Zuhlke, one of them being Quigga, the Quagga Zebra. She painted because it filled her heart with joy and she was able to spend time with friends and share her work with friends and family. She was still painting with friends three to four times a week and wanted to continue to paint as long as she could. She quite literally painted until her last moments in this life and even passed with paint still on her fingers. She lived and loved a beautiful life and will be greatly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.

Zenith was proceeded in death by her parents, Chester (Sr.) and Vola Kiser, by her sister and brother-in-law Marcia Dee (Kiser) and Robert Oriet, her brother and sister-in-law Chester (Jr.) and Eleanor Kiser, and by her husband Melvin Judah.

She is survived by her sister Darlene (Kiser) Lynn and her children, Kelly Judah, Eric Judah and Eric's wife Michaela Judah, her grandchildren, Marissa Olsen, Erica Judah, Sierra Rosas, Jenna Judah and great-grandchild, Jeffery Wegner Jr.

Zenith's memorial service will be at McHenry Funeral Home on Sunday, September 12th, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. There will be lunch reception immediately following the service at El Sol de Mexico in Corvallis.

Please leave your thoughts, memories and any condolences for the family at:

www.mchenryfuneralhome.com