Judith W. Belsley

Judy spent most of her life proving to the world that there was little she couldn't master if she put her mind and heart to it. Born Judith Ann Walton on January 22, 1941 in Bakersfield, California, she grew up in Boone County, Kentucky with her parents Noel and Gladys, and older brother David. Her father was the Boone County surveyor, and the extended Walton family peppered the rolling northern Kentucky countryside along the Ohio river.

Judy was brilliant, endlessly creative, and possessed of a dry and unsparing sense of humor. She cultivated her musical and academic talents from an early age, playing the church organ in the Southern Baptist Church in her hometown of Burlington and graduating valedictorian from Boone County High School in 1957. Judy was awarded a four-year scholarship to Bryn Mawr College, where she graduated with a BA in music in 1962.

Judy married Haverford student David A. Belsley in 1961, and they moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he began doctoral studies at MIT and she worked as a secretary until their daughter, Karen, was born in 1963. Their son, Eric, followed in 1966, and the family, including a succession of beloved cats, settled in Newtonville, near David's job as a professor of economics at Boston College.

Judy parlayed her intellect and creative drive for excellence into multiple roles as an extraordinary mother, outstanding chef, and classical pianist. She earned a MEd from Boston College in 1970, and built a private music practice, teaching piano and theory to students in the Newton area, including her own children and grandchildren. Never at a loss for something new to master, Judy was a lifelong learner and creator, sharing her love for her family through her legendary cooking and baking, and spoiling them with hundreds of beautiful hand-knit sweaters. Family cats were pampered with home-made cat food, weekly teeth and hair brushing, and regular chats in her high-pitched "kitty" voice.

Gentle and reflective, Judy was also tenacious in her opinions and beliefs, choosing with care her moments to drop deadly zingers, old Kentucky aphorisms, and singular pieces of wisdom. She read voraciously and widely, enjoyed long bike rides with her husband, and could regularly be heard cackling at Monty Python's Flying Circus or practicing her French while counting stitches in the evenings. She took up ballet as an adult, and danced en pointe into her late sixties. Judy loved to travel, and with her husband she regularly escaped her growing brood of grandchildren with trips around Europe, and enjoyed biannual extended stays in Cornwall, England and summer vacations in Martha's Vineyard.

Judy's final years were compromised by idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, a neurodegenerative disease of the brain. She continued to enjoy time with her children, grandchildren, and beloved Maine Coon cats, spending her last years with husband David and cats Thaddeus and Cyrus at Newbridge on the Charles in Dedham before her death on October 1st, 2024. In addition to her husband, Judy leaves behind daughter Karen (Lawrence) Belsley Pratt, son Eric (Phoebe) Belsley, grandchildren Anna Schmid, Ian (Kelsey Alexovitz) Schmid, Gretchen (Fred Dintenfass) Schmid, Peter Belsley, Katja Belsley, Rachael Pratt, Chloe Pratt, nephew David (Ya Ling) Walton and niece Melanie (Fitzroy) Walton Robertson. She is predeceased by her mother Gladys Moore Walton, father Noel Gaines Walton, and brother David G. Walton.

Judy's family would like to thank NVNA and Hospice for the exceptional care they provided during her last five months of life.

In lieu of flowers, those who wish to make a memorial donation are encouraged to do so in the name of Judith W. Belsley at the Animal Rescue League of Boston.

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