JUDITH DAY

DAY--Judith Hughes. Judy (84) died peacefully with family beside her Oct. 20 at Mt. Sinai Morningside after a fall, brain bleeds, and AML. Chicago-born, South Bend-raised, Judy lived in NY, Hong Kong, Chicago, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Seoul. She loved family, friends, art, music, nature, and lived by her deep social and political convictions. A pathbreaker, Judy adored her late mother, Margaret Hughes, and her father, Frank Reid Hughes, who died when she was 14. A friend called her "infinitely tenderhearted, full of love and wisdom, an exceptional beautiful soul", but also "courageous and steely." The first person to earn Scholarship Foundation of St. Joseph County support, Judy completed Purdue University undergrad and master's, taught, and joined a Chicago bank. Judy married fellow banker John G. Day in 1974. In Seoul, Judy became the first woman on a Fulbright Commission. She loved Japanese culture, forming deep friendships in Tokyo, later earning a Columbia University Japanese art history master's. In Hong Kong, Judy co-founded the first gallery to show contemporary Vietnamese art. She continued selling Vietnamese art after returning to New York. One artist called her "a wonderful friend for 30 years, not only to our family but to so many artists and to the Vietnamese art scene itself." Judy served 15 years on the NY Youth Symphony's board and was deeply engaged in crane and other wildlife conservation work. She is survived by her brother Frank Hughes (Jackie), their sons Frank (Michele), Andy (Erika, Samantha, A.J. and Jacob), her devoted husband John, his siblings Tom, Karen, Barb Pinekenstein (Peter), Jim (Joe Cibulka), Janet Prokop (Jeff), their children to great-great-grandchildren. A celebration of Judy's life will be held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on January 14, with an online link. The family suggests donations be made to The Scholarship Foundation of St. Joseph County, which helped give Judy her start.