Nancy Elizabeth Judkins Bayless was born on October 30th, 1951 in Haverhill, Massachusetts, the middle child of the late Bradley and Reva Judkins. Her formative years were spent in Haverhill alongside her older brother, Brad, and her younger sister, Sarah. She attended Haverhill High School where she developed her voracious appetite for poetry and channeled her boundless energy into cheerleading; although she was overhead asking “What’s a ‘down’ ?” after her first football game.
Getting swept up in the musical revolution happening during her youth was a pivotal time for her: at age 12, her father took her to see The Beatles at Boston Garden, at 18 she witnessed Led Zeppelin play at The Casino on her beloved Hampton Beach boardwalk, and that same summer she trekked through the mud at Woodstock. These experiences had a profound effect on Nancy; she could instantly recall the when, the where, and most importantly the how of the effect the music had on her. Throughout her life she was singing, dancing, spreading the joy of that music to everyone around her with infectious glee.
In 1969 she attended American University and then transferred to Boston University, graduating in 1973 with a bachelor’s in English. It was there that she nurtured her appreciation for poetry and literature. She often spoke about finding herself in the works of Robert Frost, Virginia Wolfe, and William Shakespeare. Discovering a good book was, for her, an important life event, and again she could recall with ease where she was and who she was with when first she encountered the collected poems of Emily Dickenson or John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, among countless other titles.
The following year she moved to New York City to begin work at New York Magazine. After 4 years in Manhattan, she moved to Cambridge, MA where she worked in advertising and met her loyal group of friends from the AA community, including her future husband, Tim Bayless. In the summer of 1983, she married Tim in New Castle, NH, and that union produced the two great loves of her life: Tyler Sinclair Bayless and Laura Carleton Bayless. In 1989 they all moved to Atlanta, where it took her a long time to adjust to living in the south, but in time she made many great friends in Atlanta. She grew to love the city itself; especially its bloom in the spring.
Incredibly loving, compassionate and witty, Nancy had a great sense of humor, and her laugh could fill an entire room. Intelligent and undeniably well-read, she could recite a poem from decades before or share a quote that made the situations she found herself in funnier, more profound or even sublime. With her birthday falling the day before Halloween, she threw a lot of great parties that time of year, always dawning a creative costume. A highlight was when she wore a long blue wig with a rope tied around her torso. Although her children were perplexed, she knew they’d figure it out in due time: she was personifying Bob Dylan’s song, “Tangled Up in Blue.”
A big movie-goer and TV fanatic, some of her favorite HBO series were “Six Feet Under” and “Angels in America,” and some of her favorite movies were “The Player” and “When Harry Met Sally.” After Tyler begged over and over, she took him to see “Jurassic Park,” when he was just 8 years old, but upon seeing the first monstrous T-Rex, Tyler spent the rest of the movie in her lap. She also loved musicals, although the songs they made her burst into were sometimes to her family’s chagrin. Her favorite was “A Chorus Line,” and she also loved the Mary Martin version of “Peter Pan;” an opinion she passed along to Laura.
Although she spent most of her adulthood making a wonderful home for her children, later in life Nancy had a stint at BKV Advertising in Atlanta. On the occasion that she accidentally sent an email alluding to an upcoming surprise party, she was subsequently voted by her colleagues as “Most Likely to Spill The Beans.” One of her favorite pastimes was taking the family’s two dogs to Winn Park in the Ansley Park neighborhood, where some of her closest friends would gather nearly every day: the close-knit “dog park” crew. She was a Scrabble aficionado, a trait that ran in her family, from her aunt to her mother. She kept that family in her heart, always, as her happiest times were spent on the beach in New Hampshire, at her familial home on North Hampton Beach. She grew up there and grew old there; wherever she went, her thoughts were never far from that bracing water, the sun on her skin, and the sand under her feet.
Devoted parent, teacher of kindness, a deeply empathetic friend. Brainy, rambunctious and absolutely beautiful. She could connect to others through wit, insight, and understanding. A dreamer, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother and a pilgrim soul.
Nancy Elizabeth Judkins Bayless passed away suddenly on Wednesday, May 3rd, at Piedmont Hospital Atlanta, due to cardiac arrest.
She never forgot about the those that she loved in her life and she will never be forgotten by those that loved her after her death.
Nancy is preceded in death by her parents, Bradley and Reva Judkins of Haverhill, MA, and her younger sister, Sarah Judkins of Waltham, MA. She is survived by her two children, Tyler Bayless of Atlanta and Laura Bayless of Brooklyn, her older brother, Brad of Haverhill, and her brother-in-law, Clark Goodpaster of Waltham, MA.
A Celebration of Life will be held in Atlanta, GA in the coming weeks. Please check back for updates from the family.
In lieu of flowers, donations are appreciated and can be made in Nancy’s name to the Atlanta Triangle Club, linked here:
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