Jude Freund Vandyke (aka Judith Anne by her mother and sister when she was in trouble), was born in Syracuse NY on October 16, 1954 and she passed away on February 12, 2021 in Annapolis MD, her favorite little town. Jude’s music was just one of many gifts she gave to us. As the lead vocalist of Kite and then the Jude Band she played at Charlie’s West Side for many years in Annapolis and performed at other mainstay venues such as Hammerjack’s, The Bayou, Desperados, The Cellar Door and Pier 7. Jude carried her music up and down the east coast and moving to Macon and Atlanta GA. and Nashville, TN where she took part in and was influenced by the southern music scene and such bands as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers. In Nashville Jude worked at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center where she met many country stars who influenced her greatly. Jude also did a stint in St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands sharing her music with many. During her travels she started or sang and played with with a multitude of different bands as well as jamming with the likes of George Jones and Bonnie Raitt as well as others.
“Jude’s commanding voice was her signature on stage with her incomparable stage presence and she had a bevy of insatiable fans”.
Jude came to Annapolis in the early 70’s when she moved here with her family. Jude attended Annapolis High School for her Senior year and fell in love with the town and its wonderful people and music. In 1972 Jude had a beautiful daughter Jennifer, who was the first of the two brightest lights in her life, a life of many lights. The next precious light was her son Woody who was born in Nashville TN in 1988, and he recently added another bright star to Jude’s heart, her granddaughter Emmerson!
After all her travels and living in Atlanta Jude choose to return to Annapolis to spend her last years near her beloved Friends, family and wonderful musical town. And she never stopped singing, in 2017 joining the AM Song Circle on Wednesday’s at St. Luke’s.
Jude’s talent did not stop with music. She had other hobbies and jobs in Annapolis along the way, including artistically crafting some of the renowned inlays for PRS Guitars, sewing and selling gorgeous flowing vintage dresses for QHeart II at the Renaissance Festival, a plethora of beautiful art, and keeping the staff amused at Carrol’s Creek Café’.
Jude is survived by her daughter Jennifer Krohn,, son Woody Hatchett and Granddaughter Emmerson, sister and brother Jana Freund and Kurt Freund, a wealth of cousins and nephews a and many close and wonderful friends who she so loved and cherished and depended on.
She was predeceased by her mother and father and her
partner of 20 years, James “Blue” Johnson.
Jude lived her life with that omnipresent smile unforgettable laugh, upbeat attitude and a genuine love for all of the friends and family who knew her. She had a presence that took over wherever she went, filled with love and humor that will carry on, forever bright in the hearts of those who knew and loved her. Go in peace Jude, and never stop singing!
A memorial service will be announced at the appropriate time in the Spring after the Covid Blues have passed.
In lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to remember Jude may donate to her favorite organization…
Annapolis Musicians Fund for Musicians, Inc.
AM-FM @http://www.am-fm.org/donate
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