Judith Ann Hurdle Smith, our beloved sister known to everyone as Judy, was born on November 6, 1949, in Gatesville, North Carolina, the second of five children born to Leroy Hurdle and Carrie (Langston) Hurdle, who were also born in Gatesville. Sadly, on January 17, 2021, Judy died of complications of Parkinson's Disease in a hospital near her home in Columbia, Maryland. We have been inconsolable with grief.
When Judy was just a child of four years, she moved with her family from Gatesville to Waterbury,
Connecticut, where her parents worked in factories and Judy and her siblings were raised and educated.
Judy completed schoolwork at Walsh grammar and Kennedy high. She then took a training position as a Radiologic Technologist at St. Mary's Hospital and was nationally registered in 1970. Judy quickly moved to Hartford to begin work at St. Francis Hospital.
After a few years in Hartford, Judy moved to the Washington, D.C., area, eventually settling in her home in Columbia. She was able to bring our mother to Columbia on occasions, and Judy once drove her to visit relatives in Gatesville and Suffolk, Virginia, before our mother herself passed. Ever mindful and full of gratitude for the unending love and sacrifice our mother bestowed upon us all, Judy continued our mother's rituals of sending cards and gifts on birthdays and boxes full of presents, candies, and good things to eat on Christmas morning. As well as being the principal participant in our annual Thanksgiving dinner in Waterbury, Judy was always open to visits from her brothers and sisters. The African American Museum in D.C. is but one of several attractions to which Judy provided entrance for family members. She was another mother to us all.
In 2011, Judy was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. She was brave throughout the ensuing decade. But her muscles withered and her strength gave out. In addition to Paulette Smith, her partner of 50 years, Judy leaves behind her brother Roy (now known as Gyavira Lasana) and his wife Anne of New York; her brother Melvin of Waterbury; her brother Michael of Stamford, Connecticut; and her sister Deborah of Waterbury. One uncle, Samuel Carter, and one aunt, Edna Fenderson, survive her, as do two nieces—Carisha Roscoe and Amanda Hurdle, both of Waterbury—and two nephews, Primo Lasana of New York and Anthony Smith of Stamford. Also, one great-nephew—Royce King of Waterbury.
Surviving cousins in Waterbury include Lynell Brown; Danny and Gloria Felton; Margaret Riddick; and Vickie, Joycelyn, and Tanya Carter. Still others are Odell Hurdle of North Carolina; Brenda Taylor of Georgia; and Gwen and Ronnie Hurdle.
Following Judy's wishes, we will bury her near our mother's grave in Waterbury.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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