Judy was born on 14 February 1940 in Gouverneur, NY to parents Roy H Meldrim and Dolores A Meldrim of Edwards, NY. Her family later moved to Seneca Falls, NY where Judy attended Mynderse Academy from kindergarten through graduation as valedictorian of the class of 1958. As a winner of a competitive New York State Regents Board scholarship, Judy enrolled at State University of New York at Albany. It was there that she met Donald C (Mac) Macdonald, Jr. who was a transfer student from Jamestown (NY) Community College. Little did she then suspect that he would become her husband of 61 years on 31 December 1960 in Boynton Beach, FL.
In January 1961, the newlyweds traveled to San Antonio, TX where Mac started a 20-year US Air Force career. This was the beginning of what was to become a great adventure! Judy joined her husband as an amateur radio operator licensee in February 1963, in Sacramento, California where he was stationed at Mather AFB. Their family grew in August 1963, when daughter Barbara was born at Carswell AFB in Fort Worth, TX. In 1966, Mac introduced Judy to snow skiing in Cloudcroft, NM leading to ski adventures in Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, and Norway while he was stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany, where their son Kenneth was born in March 1968.
The family returned to the USA with an assignment to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City in 1971, where Mac and Judy have lived since. In 1977, Judy began riding motorcycles, which she really enjoyed as it involved much of the motion and balance required in skiing. The family took multiple cross-country road trips on motorcycles with one kid on the back of each bike, including one round trip from OKC to Niagara Falls and back in the heat wave of 1980! The couple also rode to the Harley Davidson 105th Anniversary Party in Milwaukee in 2008.
Judy had a natural talent for art and worked on the staff of her high school yearbooks. Family homes were well-decorated with paintings and drawings that she did, as she was skilled in many media. Later, Judy took more art classes at a local community college in Oklahoma, and even sold some of her art to the college. She eventually took a job at a local company with its own art department, and also did graphite portraits of people and activities for several decades.
Judy was well loved and was known by everyone she met as being friendly, warm, loving, and caring. She was a cherished Girl Scout leader, band parent, soccer mom, and the first volunteer for anything her family chose to do. For the last 30 years, her greatest joy has been spreading the wonderful news of her personal savior, Jesus Christ, and His promise of eternal life in paradise.
She is survived by her husband Mac of the home; their daughter Barbara Macdonald Gloria and husband Albert C. Gloria, III of Bellevue, NE;
their son Kenneth A. Macdonald and wife Stacie L. Macdonald of Placitas, NM; and their five grandchildren: William and Christopher Gloria; and Katherine, Jared, and Andrew Macdonald. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother Irv Meldrim, who is survived by his wife Dora of Palm Springs, FL. Judy is also survived by her brother Bob Meldrim and his wife Judy of Pensacola. FL.
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