Judy A Taylor

Judy Ann Taylor nee Walters was born on April 7, 1944. According to family lore, she was born at home during an early spring blizzard that left her parents, Rayland and Marie, stranded, unable to leave their home. Judy's life began from the comforts of home, and as her life unfolded, she never wandered too far from that home. Judy, aged 79, died on December 19, 2023, surrounded by her family after a short, aggressive bout with cancer.

Family, from the beginning until the end, was the pinnacle of her existence. Raised in a family of five children, including an older sister (Sharon), two younger twin-sisters (Kay and Rae) and a younger brother (Peter). Judy lived with her family in downtown Holcombe. A scion of the fun-loving Walters family - her folks were known throughout the area for their local supper club (Ray's) and lumber mill.

A 1962 graduate of Lake Holcombe High School, Judy assumed many of the notable characteristics of her parents, Rayland and Marie. It was well-known, for example, that Judy had Ray's infectious laugh and Marie's taste for Polish food. No one knows the exact time or date (or at least no one has come forth to admit the actual series of events) but sometime during those high school years, Judy met the man who would become her husband, Joe. It is fair to say Joe was the love of her life, but that type of flowery language is not often expressed in any Walters or Taylor household, so it will be left that they fell in love and were married for exactly 50 years, until Joe's untimely passing in May 2015.

After living with her sister Sharon in Chicago for a time after graduation, Judy conveniently, and some would say, rather quickly, found her way back to Holcombe where she married Joe on May 15, 1965. Judy and Joe moved to the Taylor family farm, on the western banks of the Holcombe Flowage, some seven miles from the Walters' home in downtown Holcombe.

It is quite possible that Judy would have sworn off marriage to Joe if she knew just what she was getting herself into when she arrived with her belongings at Rural Route 2 in Birch Creek in the late spring of '65. As it seems, Judy's nuptial arrangements not only included Joe, but an entire family of Taylors - Joe's parents, Leo and Irene, and Joe's older brothers, Bob and John. The newlyweds, along with their first in what would be a rotating series of dogs named Wyatt Earp, lived right across the driveway from Joe's family. Eventually the dog names would transition from Western outlaws to vice presidents (Spiro) and Packer greats (Ezra and Reggie). Regardless of the name, there was always a dog - or three.

From the get-go, Judy and Joe held that farm together. Joe worked night and day, so his brothers could pursue other career paths and eventually move to Eau Claire, And, while Leo and eventually Irene's health declined, Judy was always their designated driver. And drive she did: Not a week would go by when Judy would take Leo to a doctor's appointment or Irene to Lowell's in Cornell for some grocery shopping. In addition to her prowess as a designated driver, she mastered a range of farm-hand skills, including driving-tractor, washing-milkers and cooking for large groups of people including bearded, city-folk cousins and friends who would show up from downstate every year in late November wearing blaze orange and carrying guns. Down the road, one of them (Jay and his wife, Linda) became a steady and helpful presence in Judy's life.

Yes, as previously mentioned, there were plenty of dogs, but over the course of ten years, from 1966 to 1975, the dogs were slowly overtaken by five kids. First Brian, then Jill, then Tom, then Mitch and finally, Joell. Two parents, five kids and several dogs - all cozily ensconced in a double-wide trailer.

From about 1973, when Brian entered kindergarten, until Joell graduated from LHHS in 1993, it's a safe bet that Judy logged more hours at school-related events than any other person in the district. There was little league baseball, Cub scouts, Brownies, Baton twirling, and piano lessons. There was early morning junior high basketball practice and eventually all the varsity sports including football and volleyball. Won or lose, home or away, there was one sure thing at these events: Judy was the loudest fan. Her voice could piece the most raucous crowd, embarrassing whichever child happened to be participating.

During her child-raising years, one might think, especially after reading the above paragraph, that Judy was obsessed with sports. Yes, of course, she cheered just as loudly on Sunday for the Packers as she did at any high school game. But before we leave these years behind, it must be said that Judy, maybe because she's played the alto saxophone, demanded that her children learn to play a musical instrument (a trait she probably inherited from her mother, Marie, who was an infamous taskmaster) and that they get good grades so they could go to college. Both these requirements, I am happy to report, were fulfilled by all her children. Remarkably four of her children went to college and all of them became teachers. Joell in Fall Creek, Mitch in Suring, WI, Jill in Burlington, WI and Brian at the University of Wisconsin as an adjunct professor. It also must be noted that Judy devoted most of her adult life to her son, Tom. Nearly inseparably for more than 50 years, Judy made sure Tom was always included in everything. There is a special place in the Great Beyond for the role she played in Tom's life.

Besides raising five children and working with Joe full-time on the farm, Judy spent her free time on a range of interesting, community-minded activities. She was a county election clerk for almost 40 years, on the Birch Creek Town Board, a member of the Holcombe Women's Club, the Holcombe Methodist Church and eventually involved with the Cornell VFW. Often in tow with her great friend, Norma, she loved to make trips to Cornell, Ladysmith, Chippewa and if she could bear the traffic, Eau Claire. She also worked several years at Paradise Shores and occasionally at the Holcombe school. Amazingly creative, for many years, Judy tool an active part in crocheting, basketweaving, pottery and other artistic activities, proudly displaying many of her projects in her yard and in her home. And it seemed she and Sue Crank were constantly planning the next reunion for the Class of 1962.

Some say to live a full life you must travel the globe, experience a lot of cultures; the whole "The World is Your Oyster" thing. Judy bucked that trend. Even though she managed to travel to several places like Milwaukee for many Brewer games, Minneapolis for three bar mitzvahs - even Mexico, Las Vegas, New Orleans and Nashville, in her later years, following Joe's passing, Judy's "oyster" were the county roads between Holcombe and Fall Creek, where she (along with Tom of course) was able to rekindle her love for school sports by watching two of her grandchildren (Taylor and Jenna) compete in a range of activities.

It's remarkable, extraordinary really, just how many lives you impact when you live in the same place for almost 80 years. Judy leaves behind a list of friends too numerous to mention, several cousins, and given that she had five kids, a wealth of grandchildren. That cast of characters includes Brian and Rebecca (Goldberg) and their sons, Max, Jacob and Ben in Golden Valley, MN. Jill and Bryan Hanson and their daughters Mackenzie and Ellie in Elm Grove, WI. Mitch and Kim Taylor and their children, Leo and Lilly in Gillet, WI. Joell and Terry Anders and their children Taylor and Jenna in Fall Creek, WI. And of course, Tom. She is preceded in death by her parents, Rayland and Marie, her sister Sharon and her husband, Joe.

May her memory be a blessing and live on in the stories her family and friends continue to share when they get together for holiday parties (Christmas was always her favorite - it was easy to tell when you drove by the farm and saw that giant, lit Santa), Friday fish fries or just driving in the car to get groceries, buy another ball of twine at Farm and Fleet or to yet another sporting event where she could cheer her (grand)kids onto victory.