Judith La Verne McClure

Judy was born 20 June 1942 to Robert and Emma Maxwell in Youngstown Ohio. She was the eldest child and was followed by two sisters Roberta and Martha.

Judy went to Struthers High School, where she was also a cheerleader, graduating in 1960. She then attended Aultman School of Nursing completing the course to become a Registered Nurse. She moved to Annapolis MD where she worked as a nurse and married her high school sweetheart, Robert “Red” McClure on the day of his graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1964.

As a new Navy wife she followed Red through duty stations working as a nurse in the Naval Station hospitals. In November 1965 she gave birth to their son Scott which put a hold on her nursing career. A daughter Beth came in May 1967. She accompanied her husband through moves to Pensacola FL, Beeville TX, Lemoore CA, San Diego CA, Charleston SC, and back to San Diego until Red left the service in June 1970. During the first 6 years of their marriage she raised two babies while her husband did three 6 month deployments on destroyers then spent the last year in Vietnam.

After Red got out of the Navy they settled in Orange, California. Once her children started school Judy began working again as an RN at Kaiser Hospital where she was a floor nurse. She also got heavily into breeding and showing Samoyed dogs and had a couple of show champions. In 1977 they moved to Sonoma CA where they settled on a couple of acres and began raising animals on a small scale including horses, sheep, and chickens. Judy worked as a visiting nurse and was an avid member of the Valley of the Moon horse riding club.

In 1985 they sold the house and horses and moved to Annapolis MD and bought a sail boat. Judy began working for the state of Maryland, initially in women’s health then in drug rehabilitation and HIV clinics, finally ending as a regional director of rehabilitation programs. They stayed in Maryland until 2012 enjoying sailing on the bay and a great deal of international travel.

In 2012 Red and Judy completely retired and moved to Sun City, Texas. Judy enjoyed her family, friends, her cats, playing the organ, and driving her RX-8. In the last year of her life she developed Alzheimer’s which did not really slow her down until it advanced quickly in the last five months.

The constant and love of her life was Red, her husband of 58 years, who unfortunately lost a brief fight with leukemia and preceded her passing by 5 weeks. She is survived by son Scott, daughter Beth, grandsons AJ, Connor, and Doug, and her sister Bobbi. The whole family is united in grief, love, and thankfulness that we had Judy in our lives.

There will be a memorial and inurnment service for Judy and Red at the US Naval Academy columbarium on 11 October 2022 at 2:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, if so desired, a donation may be made in their memory to the Tunnel to Towers 9/11 Institute at T2T.org.