Judy Watson

Judy Watson was born on October 6, 1935 and left us on December 30, 2020. On December 22nd, 61 years ago, she married the one true love of her life, Bill Watson. They met at the University of Michigan after he saw a beautiful young lady in a red coat across the quad. She remained a lifelong fan of the Maize and Blue and anyone who mentioned the U of M was treated to a rousing chorus of “Hail to the Victors” punctuated by a big “Go Blue!” Judy and Bill travelled the world with their two children as Bill’s job in international banking led them to live in six countries. After the kids left home and they settled back in the states, Judy got her master’s degree in special education at Northwestern. She went on to teach at the Art Institute of Chicago for 15 years, developing the Learning Center to help struggling students. Judy and Bill later retired to the mountains of North Carolina where they made many dear friends and were deeply involved in the community. Judy taught at Brevard College and volunteered at the Porter Center and Brevard Music Center. Judy was an extremely creative woman of many talents. She wove beautiful wool rugs, played classical guitar, and made incredible quilts, with every stitch done by hand – not easy for a self-taught lefty. An avid reader, Judy absolutely loved to learn. In college, she took far more credits than necessary because it was “fun.” She was a whiz at crossword puzzles, and it was tough to find a Sudoku difficult enough to challenge her. Passionate about politics and understanding a myriad of cultures, Judy enjoyed listening to NPR, participating in book clubs, and any opportunity to discuss current events. Life was exceptionally good but not without serious challenges. Later in life, Judy had a heart attack and beat an aggressive form of breast cancer. She developed macular degeneration. The chemo contributed to memory issues that, combined with vision loss, very gradually limited her independence. Bill became her eyes and her memory, caring for her with incredible patience and tenderness. In April 2020, Judy and Bill decided it was time to move closer to family and arrived at Fox Run in Novi, Michigan just in time to be locked down due to the pandemic. Judy’s health continued to decline and in September, Bill made the gut-wrenching decision to move her into memory care. He was tested for COVID multiple times a week so he could visit her and feed her lunch every day. Through it all, Judy remained positive and retained her sense of humor (she was well known for her “Judy zingers”). The family is so grateful to Rose Court leadership for understanding the paramount importance of allowing Judy and Bill to be together as much as possible. Theirs is a true love story. Judy was preceded in death by her parents, Walter and Marion Geeting, brother Ned Geeting, and beloved sister Nancy Walker. She is survived by her loving husband of 61 years, Bill Watson, son Kyle McRae (Reese), and daughter Marci (Rodney) Curtis. Judy is the cherished grandmother of Caleb (Elaina) Reese, Sophie (Kyle) Piurkowski, Skye (Bryan) Gardiner-Macrae, Asher Reese, and Taylor (James) Yau. Judy became a great-grandmother on December 27, 2020 with the birth of Avery Yau. Judy also leaves her brother Daniel Geeting and sister-in-law Judy (Paul) Buckwalter, and many nieces and nephews. A celebration of Judy will take place as soon as it is safe for us to be together to laugh and cry and hug each other as we recall the wonderful life of this remarkable woman.

Judy Watson

October 6, 1935 - December 30, 2020