Judith A. Duerk

A resident of Kensington, Maryland for almost 50 years, Judith was a music therapist, Tai Chi instructor, counselor and author for the balance of five decades.

She was a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, a graduate of the Julliard School earning both her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees and completed postgraduate work at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, and at Indiana University. She taught music to students in Chicago, New York and in the Washington D.C. area before entering private practice as a music therapist and counselor.

In 1989, Judith wrote her first book, Circle of Stones: Woman’s Journey to Herself. She followed this work with several other books and began to focus on leading women’s workshops and retreats across the country.

Judith enjoyed spending time outdoors writing, practicing Tai Chi, canoeing, and sitting in silence alone and with others. She spent a considerable amount of time in the shade of the hardwoods behind her home in Kensington, Maryland and at her mountainside retreat near Berkley Springs, West Virginia.

She is preceded in death by husband John E. Habeck, of Kensington, MD, and former husband William Adam Duerk III, the father of her adult children. She is survived by sons Joshua Matthew Malachi Duerk of Columbia, MD, and William Adam Joseph Duerk, Missoula, MT; grandsons William Winslow “Win” Duerk and John Joseph “Jack” Duerk; Judith’s brother William Burhop, IN; her sister and brother-in-law Cynthia Burhop McKay and John F. McKay, Seattle; nieces Cynthia Sue Tollefson of Seattle and Sandra Lee Roberts, Malibu, CA; grandnephews William and Jonathan Tollefson and grandniece Christine Tollefson Hyler. Many family members and friends, not named here due to space considerations, were also beloved by Judith.

She will be dearly missed.