Great Aunt Judith 1908-2006

Her funeral is today - it would have been Kenneth & Judith's 68th wedding anniversary (he died in 1994). A delightful Christian lady who continued to be an active learner well into retirement (which was a long time, since she died at 97). She took up painting in her 70s, and I wish I had a scan of one of her landscapes so I could post it. She also is reputed to have been a formidable Scrabble player. I hadn't realized until a few years ago that she was a "West River" girl (in South Dakota, "East River" and "West River" refer to which side of the Missouri you're on - the two halves of the state are quite distinct) who had come to this area as a teacher. She was spotted by a young farmer named Kenneth (my grandfather's younger brother), and the rest is history. She remarked once that she thought there were too many trees in this part of SD, and that she liked things more wide open, like in the West! Being a Minnesota boy myself, born in the deep woods, I think the trees already look a bit sparse in these parts, and seeing it through her eyes takes a bit of effort. She will be missed, but our loss is Heaven's gain.