Judith (Judy) Maddox Keith passed away on October 20, 2020 after a long, valiant and determined fight against a chronic but terribly debilitating cancerous condition called cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. It emanates from a rare blood cell disorder systematically ravaging skin areas all over the body. Symptoms include plaque-like itchy red rashes, raised hot spots, and swelling in the extremities. Judy is now free of the agony of this irritating, rapidly progressing incurable disease together with the disabling side-effects from chemotherapy. She is at last at peace with her Lord.
Judith (or Judy) K Maddox was born November 14, 1942 in Mobile, AL. She is the daughter of Mildred Jeanette Koon and George Kirkland Maddox. Before she was four her family moved to Jackson, MS where she attended Boyd Elementary and later Bailey Jr. High School. She then attended Murrah High School where as a sophomore she and others were unfortunately injured in a serious automobile/train wreck in which she was a passenger. These injuries required many hospital months and substantial recovery time which limited her school activities but she managed to graduate on time with her class in 1961. She then went on to Mississippi College where she met their star football player Gwin F. Tackett. The two were married in 1964 and later moved to the gulf coast in Gulfport, MS where they lived for several years. Over the many following years they moved all over the Nation as well as overseas where Judy was primarily a housewife and mother of two children. They finally settled in Maryland (MD) just outside Washington, D.C. where Gwin had risen to the level of colonel and became the coordinator of the administrative medical activities at Walter Reed Hospital. Gwin retired in 2000, but passed away in 2002 with full military honors.
After her husband had deceased, Judy worked for the next few years as a receptionist at the Lake Forest Mall located close to her home in Germantown, MD. While still working in MD she frequently traveled to visit her family in Jackson, MS and often attended the Faith Baptist Church. During one of these Jackson trips while visiting at a hospital, she ran across an old high school friend George Keith who had retired a few years earlier. George had worked in the federal government as a systems analyst in the Southern Forest Research Station whose project was responsible for reporting on the status, trends, and conditions of all forest lands, public and private, throughout thirteen states in the South which later became internet accessible as a National centralized database for all USA contiguous states. Although a thousand miles apart, George and Judy saw each other as often as possible, ultimately marrying in 2008, and decided to live and rebuild their lives together in Brandon, MS with a home on the Ross Barnett Reservoir. Judy loved the atmosphere radiating from the water outdoors, the wildlife, the scenery, and the many water-related activities.
Judy fully enjoyed the company of others, new and old friends, those in the Heritage Club, and always made sure to attend concerts or dances, esp. when old Rock & Roll era music was featured. She was a life-long fan of Doris Day and Tony Bennett with their music, but she also followed New Orleans style jazz and was a good friend of jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain. Actually, she was a great fan of all older types of music as well as religious hymns. She enjoyed local good food, seafood on the gulf coast, and Weidman's in Meridian, MS. She really enjoyed riding down the highway on the MS gulf coast to see the beach and the white caps coming ashore. She especially looked forward to Gulf Shores, AL which was closely tied to her earlier years and vacations in AL, and was an enthusiastic fan of AL Crimson Tide football ever since her closest aunt and best friend, Libby, worked as coach Bear Bryant's personal secretary.
Judy was full of zest with a gusto for life before the on-set of this terrible disease. Still she followed safety precautions for getting around in the midst of the dreaded covid-19 crisis in order to touch base with all her friends and loved ones, Although her medical condition continually dragged her down, she never let it significantly alter her lifestyle. She pleasantly participated in all her activities, determined to stay on schedule for all she was doing, and thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the surroundings of the good, wholesome people who routinely surfaced in her life.
Judy is survived by her husband George C. Keith in Brandon, MS, her son Gwin (Chip) F. Tackett and his wife Shannon also in Brandon, MS, her daughter Julianne Jensen in MO together with her five children, her sisters Gayle Eiland in Ridgeland, MS and Jen Sampson in Jackson, MS, and her brother Kirk Maddox in Jackson, MS.
Visitation will be held at Parkway Funeral Home at 1161 Highland Colony Parkway, Ridgeland, Mississippi 39157 on Monday, October 26, 2020 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm with a chapel service immediately following.
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