Judy Irene Fosdick

Judy lived a life of meaning. She believed in being a hard worker and giving to those what she could. She was always easy going and was never one to complain. Judy learned early on in life what hard work was. Even though she was a hard worker, she also enjoyed many other things. She found a balance in life between work and having fun.

She was born to Paul and Mary L. Manyik on April 25, 1945 and was raised on a farm in Calhan, Colorado. She graduated from Calhan High School in 1963. Upon graduating from high school, she briefly attended business college, but soon found herself working for the phone company in Limon, Colorado. Her many encounters with relationships she built soon found herself on a blind date with a man that would soon be her future husband, Grant Fosdick.

They were married in Calhan, Colorado on July 29, 1967, which is said to have been a beautiful and glorious three-day wedding with lots of dancing, food, and fun. It just could be the wedding of the century.

Grant and Judy would settle in Fowler, Colorado and raise three kids, David, Douglas, and Loraine. It was here in Fowler where Judy would become a member of the Fowler Trinity Lutheran Church. Judy would instill a solid spiritual foundation for her children. Judy would make sure her kids attended church on Sunday mornings even if the kids thought they needed

to go out on Saturday night and stay out late...

For many years, she worked at the Divens Tomato Factory during the fall season canning thousands of tomatoes. She even came home smelling of stewed and canned tomatoes. She eventually found herself being asked to clean the homes of the elderly Danish women from church. The Danish women loved that she brought her daughter Loraine along. These women always made it a point to make her feel welcomed and it was never a true house cleaning until mom was able to sit down and drink a hot cup of coffee or tea with a side of warm buttery coffee cake or pastry before finishing her cleaning duties. I think this is where mom found her sweet tooth.

Judy always made sure her kids, especially Dave and Doug, were involved in activities, from 4-H club meetings, going to the Arkansas Valley Fair and Colorado State Fairs to raising chickens. She loved going to the post office very early in the morning each spring to pick up a box full of baby chickens. Mom also made sure the boys were involved in sporting activities. She eventually found her next job as a custodial technician (janitor) at the Fowler Jr. /Senior High School.

Mom and Dad were always attending one activity, event, picnic or wedding, oftentimes attending weddings where the reception would take place at the Dane Hall in Fowler or in at the church hall in Calhan. And of course with these receptions always came dancing. Mom loved dancing.

Mom and dad always made it a point to take the family on picnics out south of Fowler to the Canyons. Here they enjoyed their time with family and friends. Being out in the open air gave mom (and dad) time to sit down and enjoy family and friends and a few good beers. They loved watching their kids and their friends swim in the mud holes or skip rocks in the nearby water. One of her favorite things to do was roasting a hot dog over an open campfire, even though she didn’t love hotdogs much. I think it was the ambiance of the quietness of being out in the open warm summer time air.

Judy was always supporting her children and their friends when it came to a sporting event. She was sure to always ring her cowbells as loud as she could during a rival football game, you could hear it ringing clear across the football field and never hesitated to put up purple and gold streamers and balloons, and grizzly football signs and when the boys played in the state football championship. Oftentimes mom and dad would be the first parents to get on the road before the team just so they could show their true support of those purple and gold colors blowing in the breeze as the team rode by on the school bus.

I don’t think mom realized what an impact she had on her children's lives. Mom always anxiously awaited the daily delivery of the mail, but she became frustrated when it didn’t arrive as soon as she thought it should. Behind closed doors Mom used to call the mail lady “Axle Grease”, (guess the axles always needed some grease to get them moving smoothly) so often that her kids eventually picked up the term…. “Axle Grease”. One day when he 3 children were playing outside, Doug leans over to his little sister and says to her “tell the mail lady “Hi Axle Grease!” and to Loraine’s innocence, she did just that, she blurted out in her childlike voice “Hi Axle Grease!”, thank goodness the mail lady didn’t hear very well, because she chimed out “What?”, to which Loraine once again screamed “Hi Axle Grease!!”. The mail lady just nodded her head, continued to deliver the mail, and carried on as if she never heard anything. Of course, we would never hear the end of our comment to the poor mail lady. Good thing she couldn’t hear very well!

Her children would eventually graduate high school and move on with their lives. This is when she got to enjoy grandkids. She would get the pleasure of having her grandkids come visit her in Fowler, whether it be attending an Easter egg hunt, or Missouri Day, or just playing in the water. She made sure she spent time with them and loved them all.

Mom would retire from the Fowler School District in 2011, she moved in with daughter, Loraine, son in law Rob and her grandsons Gunner and Hunter. It was here that she continued to have many memories. Even though she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she didn’t let that get in the way of enjoying life. She got to travel to various places with them and attended most everything from sporting activities, dinner with friends, to fall activities like picking pumpkins from the pumpkin patch to driving around during Christmas seeing all the brightly lit houses with Christmas lights. They got to visit many places. Mom got to see and do a lot. She traveled to Minnesota to see Dave and his family, she went South Carolina and enjoyed many activities there, she went to Disney World in Florida, and ate at one of her nephews restaurants in California. She even visited Hawaii in her early days. She even enjoyed her Christmas time with Doug and his family, eagerly waiting for the grandkids to open their presents. She enjoyed getting frozen coffee drinks from Starbucks or Dutch Brothers so much that she almost had her son in law converted to drinking these sweet treats more often. She even got an adventure when she went with Loraine, her son in law Rob and his mom to Cancun, Mexico. What a story

they have to tell…think they had one too many cervezas. Whatever it was, she made sure she went to her family's functions.

Recently mom had a short hospital stay that would get the best of her; she was a fighter to the end.

Judy was preceded in death by her husband, Grant, her parents Paul and Mary, and many other loving family, and friends.

She is survived by all three of her children, David of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Douglas (Jimmie Lynn) of Manzanola, Colorado and Loraine (Rob) of Pueblo West, Colorado. She is survived by seven grandchildren Megan, Michaela, Tanner, Benjamin, Danielle, Gunner and Hunter and one great-grandchild, Harlie. She is also survived by 2 Siblings Ray Paul Manyik, and Mary Jane (Paul) Johnson. She is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers and sisters in laws, and her grandson's put Fluffles.

A funeral service for Judy will be held Saturday, September 2, 2023 at 10:30 AM at Trinity Lutheran Church, 600 5th Street, Fowler, Colorado 81039. Following the funeral service will be a committal service at 11:30 AM at Fowler Cemetery, US-50, Fowler, Colorado.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in her memory to Sangre De Cristo Hospice.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.tgmccarthy.com for the Fosdick family.