Judith Lee Sanders

Born September 27, 1940, in York, Pennsylvania, to Robert and Melvine Brown of New Park, Pennsylvania, Judy was a graduate of Kennard-Dale High School in 1958. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and RN from the University of Delaware in 1964 and her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Maryland in 1967.

From a young age, Judy dreamed of being a nurse, and in spite of childhood illness, achieved her goal and became a respected figure in the field of psychiatric nursing. Her career spanned many decades and included teaching positions at St. Louis Community College, Lincoln University in Jefferson City, and the University of Missouri-Columbia. She served as a mental health consultant for the Missouri Department of Mental Health and as Director of Nursing at Fulton State Hospital in Fulton, Missouri, and the Brattleboro Retreat in Brattleboro, Vermont. In 2008, Judy retired as a Clinical Nurse Specialist from Christiana Care Medical Center in Wilmington, Delaware. After retirement, she returned to Columbia, Missouri, to be near her sons. Once back in Missouri, Judy resumed teaching at the university where she shared her love of nursing with another generation. She led a quiet life in her final years, spending time with her sons and her beloved Persian cats.

She loved cooking and collecting antiques, two passions she developed growing up in Southeastern Pennsylvania. As a student at Delaware, she was crowned Pennsylvania Fruit Growers Apple Blossom Queen and served as ambassador for the organization throughout the state of Pennsylvania.

Above all, nursing was her passion, and those who worked with her remember her as a teaching mentor, author, and strident advocate for the nursing profession.

An active member of the Episcopal Church, Judy served on the vestry at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Brattleboro, Vermont. Additionally, she loved entertaining fellow older parishioners at Christ Church Christiana Hundred in Wilmington, Delaware, and Calvary Episcopal Church in Columbia.

Preceded in death by her parents, she is survived by her sons, Jonathan (Jodie) Sanders of St. Peters, Missouri, Robert Sanders of Columbia, her sisters, Rosemary (John) Beakes of Ellicott City, Maryland, and Joyce (Jed) Morison of Columbus, Ohio, and numerous nieces and nephews who remember fondly their Aunt Judy.

A memorial service at Calvary Episcopal Church in Columbia will be held on February 24th at 11:00 a.m. Interment will be in the Brown family plot at Centre Presbyterian Church in New Park, Pennsylvania on June 2. In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to Calvary Episcopal Church or the Sinclair School of Nursing at Mizzou.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to the Sinclair School of Nursing at the University of Missouri or Calvary Episcopal Church.