Mary Judith "Judy" Simonson

Mary Judith “Judy” Simonson, age 74, passed away on Wednesday morning, February 13, at 2:45 AM, a victim of pancreatic cancer. She was born April 16, 1938, in Lakeview, New York, to Edward O. Gerlach and Mary Jane Tuffy. After graduating from South High School in Denver, Colorado, in 1956, she was employed by the Glen L. Martin Company (now Lockheed Martin), beginning as an hourly employee and working her way up to becoming 1 of 7 Executive Secretaries in the Denver Division before transferring to The National Test Bed project in Colorado Springs in 1988 as a salaried employee. She ultimately retired in 1993 after 37 consecutive years at Lockheed Martin.

In 1979, Judy married Gerald E. Simonson, the father of 1 daughter (Kristin, wife of John Stocker and mother of Kelly, Luke and Micah) and 3 sons (Joe, husband of Nui Simonson and step-father of Natt), Jay Simonson (husband of Gina and father of Josie and Jennie) and youngest son Jordan Simonson in spite of often asserting “I will never marry a man with kids.” She proved to be a very loving wife and step-mother, as witnessed by the fact that Kris and her family flew in from Alaska, Joe and his wife Nui flew in from Bangkok, Thailand, and Jay and his family drove down from Denver, Colorado, while Jordan flew from Chicago, all to comfort Judy and her husband Gerry during her last days.

Judy was an exceptionally hard working and loyal lady, with outstanding skills and memory, which helped her find ways to help many people during her 74 years. Her warm heart, bright smile and generous support will be missed by many.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Sunday, February 17th, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at Swan-Law Cascade Chapel, Colorado Springs, Colorado.