Judith Pearl Johnson, of Georgetown, Texas, passed away on March 20, 2024, at the age of 79. She was deeply loved by her family and a large circle of friends.
Judy was born on May 2, 1944, in Lynn, Massachusetts, to Richard G. Ferris and Pearl E. Ferris. Judy grew up in Saugus, Massachusetts, and had an older sister, Joanna Ferris, who passed away in 1972. Judy always kept Joanna in her heart and would always observe Jo’s birthday. She missed her big sister Jo for the rest of her life.
Judy attended UMass Amherst for her undergraduate studies. She graduated with a B.A. in education in 1965. While at UMass, Judy met her future husband, Richard W. Johnson. They married on July 23, 1966. With her degree, Judy became a full-time teacher.
After the birth of her sons Mark in 1968, and Scott in 1971, Judy transitioned into the role of an amazing stay at home mom. She put home cooked meals on the table every day of the week for her family. She was loving, supportive, dependable, kind, and selfless. She believed in her family as much as she believed in the sunrise. During a rough stretch of the 1997 NFL season, Judy famously stated, and energetically defended the idea, that one of her sons (neither of whom had ever played a down of organized football) should be the successor to Drew Bledsoe as the starter for the New England Patriots. In later years, she poured this same love and belief into her grandchildren.
Judy was a lifelong lover of language. She received her master’s degree in Spanish from SUNY Albany in the late 1990s. She loved to meet people and start conversations out in the world, in English or Spanish. She would ask questions of the people she met and then intently listen to the answers.
Judy loved handwritten notes and letters. She loved plants, trees and flowers. She was never too busy to notice the beauty of the natural world or to talk about all the different species of flora and fauna around her.
Judy was always humming, singing and dancing. For many years she was a member of various dance groups in Sun City. Her favorite styles of dance were tap dancing and clogging.
One of Judy’s many admirable traits were her empathy and care toward children. She absolutely loved working with school age kids. She was a volunteer mentor in the Georgetown school district for over 20 years, and she developed lifelong relationships with many of the young people that she has mentored.
In addition to her husband and sons, Judy leaves behind daughters-in-law Shannon and Nicole, grandchildren Tanner, Lucy, Griffin and Audrey, great-grandson Zayden, a large extended family, and so many friends. Judy had friendships that were new, some that were many years old, and some that spanned a lifetime.
All are welcome to join a celebration of life that will be held on April 6, 2024, at 4:00pm in the Lonestar Room at the Retreat, located at 1220 Cattleman Drive, Georgetown, Texas, (in the Sun City neighborhood). In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Georgetown ISD Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports enhanced learning opportunities for all students in the Georgetown school district, at https://gisdedfound.org/