Judith Brush

Judith was born in Everett, Washington, on February 22, 1935, to Edmund Johnson and Dorothy Katherine Bridgett (Boone) Johnson.

The former Judith Johnson grew up in Everett and Tacoma, graduating from Fife High School in 1952. She played French horn in the band, was on the debate team and was a cheerleader yell queen. She also took piano lessons.

After graduating from high school, she completed three years of Registered Nurse schooling at Tacoma General Hospital. After employment at Tacoma General for another two years, Judie moved east where she worked at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and New York City’s Metropolitan Hospital. She then moved to Seattle and was a Charge Nurse at Harborview King County Hospital.

It was there where she met her future husband, Jim, when they lived in the same apartment complex. Both were attending the University of Washington part-time while holding full-time jobs - Jim was working the graveyard shift at Boeing and Judie was working at Harborview as a Registered Nurse. Jim and Judie married in 1959.

Jim and Judie moved to Evanston, Illinois, so Jim could study at Northwestern University. By the time they moved to the Midwest, Judie had delivered their son, Jim Jr. Their daughter, Teri, was born while in

Evanston.

In Evanston, Judie worked at Evanston Hospital, where she sometimes served as a “float” – filling in where needed. She had the ability to step into any medical situation and hit the ground running. Judie helped set up one of the nation’s first Intensive Care facilities at Evanston, then worked in the unit as a Head Nurse.

In 1964, the family moved to Bremerton where Judie went to work at Harrison Hospital. Her husband Jim was hired to teach music in the Bremerton School District. Soon thereafter their son Dan was born.

When an ICU was proposed for Harrison, due to her expertise and previous experience, Judie was a principal consultant in its planning and organizing, advising administrators, physicians and nurses of equipment, procedures and techniques. She then served another 26 years at Harrison as an operating room nurse. Another of Judie’s ‘firsts’ was assisting an otorhinolaryngologist in micro ear surgery. Judie wrote a treatise on the new procedure that was published in the American Nurses Association Journal, and she delivered a personal report to a regional ANA convention.

While in Bremerton, Judie sang in the St. Luke’s United Methodist Church choir, was active in bowling leagues and volunteered for the Titans Drum and Bugle Corps. She and her husband Jim were known in the region for presenting dances featuring Glenn Miller Big Band recordings, using Jim’s

World War II memorabilia as décor.

Judie and her husband Jim retired to Las Vegas in 1999, where they played in concert bands and in a brass quintet Jim organized. Judie became active with the Sun City Dance Company, performing in shows throughout the region. She also enjoyed traveling to Hawaii and Disneyworld with her kids and grandkids.

In 2014, Jim and Judie accompanied their daughter Teri and granddaughter Tiana on a trip to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Paris. It was a trip that Jim referred to as their honeymoon.

She is survived by three children – Jim Brush, Jr., Teri (Todd) Snyder, and Dan Brush; three grandchildren – Todd (Andrea) Snyder, Jr., Ty (Anastasia) Snyder, and Tiana (Tom) Francis; and five great-grandchildren – Ty Snyder, Jr., Allison Snyder, Adeline Francis, William Francis and Genevieve Snyder.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, James Andree Brush, mother, Dorothy Katherine Eddings, father, Edmund Johnson, and sister, Sharon Stroh.

Judie and her husband Jim were buried together at Miller-Woodlawn Memorial Park in Bremerton.