Judy NeSmith Reid

Judy graduated from Landon High School, where she was unit leader of the Landon Lionettes. She was a member of the National Honor Society, sang in the school chorus, played violin in the Jacksonville Junior Orchestra and was president of the youth group at Swaim Memorial United Methodist Church. She received an associate degree from Jacksonville University in 1958; a bachelor of arts degree with honors from the University of Florida in 1961; and a master’s degree in 1974 from Florida State University.

Judy worked in the Duval County school system for 30 years as an English teacher and counselor, teaching children from Kindergarten through 12th grade, including in an alternative school. She was a member of the Master Gardener Program through the University of Florida, and its Volunteer of the Year in 2009. She was a member of the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus, a member of the Poetry Society at Ponte Vedra, an avid gardener and a lover of animals and the arts.

Judy was preceded in death by her parents William and Erma NeSmith; her sister Lynn NeSmith; her first husband, Times-Union columnist Bill Foley; and her later husband, Bolles instructor and coach, James Roy Reid. She is survived by sons Joe Foley (Anita) of Ashtabula, OH and Sean Foley of Jacksonville; and by four grandchildren. Gifts in Judy’s memory can be made to the Jacksonville Humane Society.

Above are the outline facts of Judy’s life, but these are facts, too:

She drank beer and watched baseball; she drank wine and listened to opera. She worked as a telephone operator. She conversed in Spanish with her first husband, who was Irish. She crabbed with chicken necks, string and a net. She could paint -- anything. She played piano, autoharp and dulcimer, as well as violin.

She abhorred hypocrisy; she championed fairness. She loved pets to a fault. She loved people to a fault.

For six years, alone, she raised two boys. She sewed clothes for her grandchildren. She wrote books for those grandchildren, with each child as the hero.

She snuck novels to grandchildren turned middle-schoolers, novels starring Captain Underpants and Wedgie Woman – which made her the best Grandmama ever!

She grew lemons and oranges, and herbs enough to fill an encyclopedia. She knew every weed in the state and could give you a recipe for half of them.

She wrote volumes of poetry and read and read and read.

She swam in the ocean at daybreak and hiked in the mountains at midnight. She traveled on a shoestring.

She knew the old Florida and the new. She volunteered. She treasured friends. She sought resolution to all quarrels. She bore no grudges.

Judy was complicated and lovely. Around her swirled a universe of creativity, fidelity and love that can never be replaced.

Visitation and services will be held at Greenlawn Funeral Home and Cemetery on Wednesday, April 9, with visitation at 11 am and services at 11:30 am. The address is 4300 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32207.