Judy Goddard

1938 - 2023

Judy Goddard

1938-2023

Salt Lake City, UT-Judy May Goddard ended a 15-year struggle with Alzheimer's Disease on April 24 in the arms of Kirk, her companion of 46 years.

Born in Denver, June 9, 1938, Judy spent the summers of her youth in geology field camps in the Rocky Mountains from New Mexico to Montana. Those summers fostered a love for the great wide open that shaped her life.

The Goddard family eventually settled in Michigan where Judy graduated from Ann Arbor High School with passions for basketball and science. She chose the latter as a career and earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Washington. Although honored as the top chemistry student in the class of 1961, Judy was unable to score a job interview (girls aren't chemists) so remained at UW for an MS in Biochemistry. She then returned to her birthplace to enjoy skiing and mountaineering supporting herself as a Girl Friday at the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute for Cancer Research. An inquisitive mind eventually drove her back to graduate school, and in 1976 at the ripe young age of 38 was awarded a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Colorado.

Upon completing her doctorate Judy accepted a research/teaching fellowship at the University of Utah, moved west, and stumbled on a soulmate. She and Kirk shared science, crosswords, backpacking in the Wind River Range, music (Dolly Parton at the Terrace, Isaac Stern in the Tabernacle), organic gardening, and Arctic-breed dogs. Married in May of 1981 they spent two years in San Francisco before returning to Utah to settle in a home they've shared since.

Judy served as a research scientist in the Biology and Human Genetics Departments at the University of Utah and in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She published on subjects as diverse as mitochondrial DNA replication, immune deficiency genetics and mammalian brain development. As the consummate bench scientist with great hands, the power of concentration, quantitative thinking, and an attention to detail, Judy's task, ALWAYS, was to resurrect a dead or failing project or initiate an "impossible" one. She succeeded every time by devising, refining, and perfecting cutting-edge molecular biological techniques. A keen eye, impeccable standards, guts to challenge authority, and command of the written language also tagged her as the final editor of every manuscript leaving her labs. In a field driven by fame, fortune, and ego, Judy excelled by moving in the shadows guided by grit and curiosity to provide counsel and data to advance what she considered a common good.

In 1998 Judy left the lab to kick back and enjoy cooking, sewing, reading, the Utah Symphony, exploring the Wasatch, Wind Rivers, and Colorado Rockies. Within a decade she was dealt some bad cards but played her last hand with grace and joy aided by a talented and caring supporting cast: Age Performance; University of Utah Health Care; Lambert Care Management; Brightstar Services; memory care at Legacy Village Sugarhouse; CNS hospice; friends, neighbors, and family too numerous to name. They worked together to keep her happy, active, and fit to her final day.

Judy's death was preceded by that of her parents, Edwin and Virginia (Hobbs) Goddard. She is survived by sisters Patricia "Pat" Vavrick of Mill Creek, Washington, and Barbara "Bobbie" Lam of Kalamazoo, Michigan; lifelong friend Karin Lindquist of Fort Collins; husband Kirk Thomas of Salt Lake City.

Judy ran a great race. She finished with a few bruises, even fewer grudges, and no regrets. She loved the Rockies, her dogs, her husband, and she shot 84% from the line.