Judy Jean Miller

Judy Miller was born on May 5, 1950 in Santa Barbara, California. She had 6 sisters and 3 brothers of which she fell number 4 in the line. Most of her formative years were spent living on the Feather Hill Ranch in Montecito, California, where her grandfather was the ranch manager. Along with her siblings; she attended Montecito Union Elementary school.

Like most kids who grew up in Santa Barbara, she attended Santa Barbara High School graduating in 1968. Judy continued her education by attending Santa Barbara City College majoring in Business Administration.

After finishing school Judy held various jobs as an entry level assembly worker for a local lamp company and at Applied Magnetics, a computer manufacturing company in Goleta, Ca.

In 1979 Judy moved to Lompoc, Ca. to try her hand in the Aerospace Industry and landed a job with Martin Marietta Corporation where she worked on the Space Shuttle Program. Judy was always a driven professional when it came to her work and she excelled at whatever job she was given. It wasn’t long before her dedication and hard work was noticed and she received numerous awards for her contributions to the Space Shuttle program. Judy worked for Martin Marietta Corp. for 17 years.

When Judy moved to Lompoc, she rented an apartment that happened to be in the same building of a co-worker that also worked on the Space Shuttle Program. That is where she met the love of her life Randy. They became friends, fell in love and then married. They were each other’s best friend.

Being rated top in her field, Judy was offered a chance to move to Denver, CO. so in 1986 Judy, Randy and son Michael packed up and moved to Denver. Judy always enjoyed the beauty of Colorado and knew it was going to be where she would spend the rest of her life. Some of her favorite pastimes included fishing and traveling around this beautiful state.

After leaving Martin Marietta Corp. Judy worked for Bechtel Corporation for 5 years. As part of her job requirement, Judy had to move back to California. After a year of “living abroad” Judy yearned to return to the place that she always felt was home. Judy returned to Colorado and soon landed a job with Jacob’s Engineering where she worked on the Suncor project. After the project ended she was hired by the Rapid Transit District – Fast Tracks of Colorado as a Data Control Administrator. This is where her career ended leaving many good friends and co-workers.

Judy not only took pride in her work but she was also devoted to her family. The most important thing to her was her love for her family. She enjoyed nothing better than playing with her grandchildren, Tyler, Steven and Jade. If she wasn’t playing with them, she received simple joy by just watching them play. Even though the last 2 ½ years of her life was a struggle, Judy said it was worth it just so she could spend more time with her family and she would gladly do it all over again.

Judy left us to join Our Heavenly Father on Sunday, January 30, 2011. She is preceded in death by her father Dean McCombs, step father John H. Ericksen and mother Ada Alcasas Ericksen. She is survived by her husband, Randy, son Michael, daughter-in-law, Natasha, grandchildren, Tyler, Steven and Jade. Her sisters Elizabeth, Linda, Teresa, Tina, Chris, and Lolly will dearly miss her as well as her brothers Michael, David and Todd.