Judy Brown

Judy A. (Zink) Brown, 74, of Fort Collins, Colorado passed away on Wednesday, June 7, 2017. A celebration of life will be held later in August in Fort Collins. Judy was born April 27, 1943 in Hutchinson, Kansas to Anton J. and Evelyn J. (Vincent) Zink. She grew up on a farm near Claflin, Kansas as one of 12 children, and graduated from Claflin High School. She was married and soon after moved to Colorado. After starting a family, Judy returned to school at Arapahoe Community College to become a Registered Nurse in 1974. She worked as a hospital floor nurse at several Denver area hospitals including Porter Adventist Hospital. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Northern Colorado in 1990. Nursing allowed her to work in many different places, including Sarasota, Florida, Mesa, Arizona, and other cities in Colorado. She enjoyed working in different areas of nursing, including travel nursing, case management, administration, and related home care nursing. Throughout her life, Judy played a mean game of Pinochle, Perquackey, or Scrabble. She made a once-in-a-lifetime trip to England to sightsee and visit relatives. Judy enjoyed having her family around, having lunch with friends, crocheting, and visiting the senior center. She especially enjoyed her grandchildren and took great pride in their accomplishments. Judy never forgot a birthday and called every week to check on friends and family. Judy is survived by daughter Penny (Ken) Diebel, sons Matthew Brown and John (Mary) Brown, 6 grandchildren, and siblings: Janice (Gary) Struble, Anita Meade, Don Zink, Tom Zink, Carole Gray, Jim (Betty) Zink, Mike (Yvonne) Zink, Chris (Marge) Zink, Debbie Zink Long (Terry), Marie (Johnny) Mayers, and Bill (Tawnia) Zink. She was preceded in death by her parents. Judy passed away on the same day as the birth of her sixth grandchild. The following excerpt from Kahlil Gibran reflects her love of life and the life born in her absence. On Death By Kahlil Gibran You would know the secret of death. But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life? ….. For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered? Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.