Judith Moebus Eckroth

July 22, 1938 - April 12, 2024: Judy M Eckroth, 85, of St Joseph, MI and Venice, FL passed away at home on Friday, April 12, 2024.

Judy was born in New Jersey to George and Edna Moebus, living on the rolling pasture of her family's dairy farm in Pittstown, NJ. She proudly attended North Hunterdon Regional High School, class of 1956. If asked about those years, she loved to talk about the Grange, her church, and neighbors, the summer trips to visit family in Michigan. It was here that she began her collection of treasured friends.

She left the family farm to attend Averett College in Virginia, after which she came home and started her lifelong love of radio working at WMID in Atlantic City, NJ. In 1961, she married Lane William Eckroth. They moved to several locations, and he learned that she gathered friendships like pearls on a string, gaining more wherever she went. The friends they made together when they lived in Flanders, NJ centered around Ashley's Turkey Farm. That network of amazing people provided them years of laughter and picnics, comfort and support.

There is no doubt that Judy loved and cherished her family, including her nieces, and cousins near and far. The measure of her character and the depth of her soul is reflected, however, in the joy felt from the connections to friends that she made and tried to keep in contact with over the years.

They moved to Hackettstown, NJ. There, Judy stayed home and raised her 3 children. Judy was busy volunteering, working anywhere she could spend time laughing and enjoying the company of others. Her crew from the HHS PTO were the sisters she didn't know she needed. She loved every minute she spent with them, maybe more than with her own family at times. She also thoroughly enjoyed being a Broadway Wednesday Matinee theater goer, and her stacks of Playbills were some of her most prized possessions. In later years, she would sing aloud all the songs during her grandchildren's revival performances.

While in Hackettstown, she was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Hackettstown, where in later years her mission was to visit members that lived in nursing homes and were shut in's. Judy loved to chat with anyone, whether on the phone or sitting with them to let them know they were loved. After a bout with breast cancer, the 20 year survivor journey strengthened her belief to live in the present for the people that you hold dear.

Judy left NJ, and the joy of full-service gas pumps and moved to St Joseph, Michigan to be near family. She spent her winters at her condo in Venice, Florida. Her condo and yoga on the beach gang were more precious pearls she added. She sought out fellow Yankee fans everywhere, but enjoyed talking to those that disliked the Yankees as much she loved them. She was an avid walker, walking intentionally to seek out people to chat with any day that it was not raining. She regularly attended the Fairplain Presbyterian Church in Benton Harbor, MI and Venice Presbyterian Church, in Venice, Florida, looking forward to spending time each week with the friends she made at services and volunteering at church activities.

Judy was of a generation that believed being a good citizen started with being a good neighbor. She was interested in getting to know and to care for everyone she met. She believed in checking in on those next door and nearby, stopping in for a chat or welcoming someone with a cup of tea.

Judy is preceded in death by her husband Lane, her brother Buddy, and sister-in law Patsy, her daughter in law Brenda, and niece Andrea. She is survived by her son Brad (Melissa), Boswell, PA, daughter Jennifer (Ben), St Joseph, MI, and daughter Amy (Matt) of Neptune Beach, Florida. Her greatest treasure was the time that she spent with her eight grandchildren, Julius (Rhiannon), Harmony, Veronica, Kathryn, Zoe, Joseph, Anna, and Abigail.

A visitation and funeral service will be held Monday, April 22, 2024 at 10:00 am - 11:30 am at Cochran Funeral Home, 905 High Street, Hackettstown, NJ. A private graveside service will be held later at Grandin Union Cemetery, Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown, NJ. A service in St Joseph, MI will be announced at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to, Bethlehem Presbyterian Church, 2 Race Street Pittstown, NJ 08867, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 www.stjude.org/donate, Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center, 136 Mountain View Boulevard Basking Ridge NJ 07920, www.mskcc.org or Alzheimer's Association, 425 Eagle Rock Avenue, #203 Roseland, NJ 07068, www.alznj.org