Judith "Judy" Ann Young James

Judy was born in Barham Siding, NC, the daughter of the late Clarence Edward Young and Myrtle Barham Young (or near the town of Wake Forest, NC)

Judy received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Meredith College in 1962, where she was a Meredith Golden 50th Society and member of the Astro Society. On graduation day she traveled to Washington, DC with several other classmates in search of a job. She was hired by the National Science Foundation where she worked for 15 months. Judy then transferred to the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina in Raleigh, NC where she was employed for 23 years. She then left that office to help open the Federal Public Defender's Office and retired in 1997 as the Administrative Officer. She spent her almost entire 35 years with the Federal Government working for attorneys.

On a tour to Europe in 1966 she met her future husband Raymond James, (a Raleigh native), in London, England. They were married in 1968 and on Oct 5, 2018, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Judy was an avid sports fan. She enjoyed all sports especially ACC basketball and football. She loved the Wake Forest Demon Deacons with all her heart and suffered greatly at their defeats. She was also a big fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, and Carolina Panthers. Judy enjoyed politics and cringed when she realized later in life that most of her friends were Republicans. She was proud to call herself a "yellow dog Democrat." In fact, her criteria for choosing a husband was that he had to be a sports fan and a Democrat.

Judy dearly loved animals and will be greeted at the Rainbow Bridge by her beloved cats Spot and Fluffy and her beloved dogs Hero, Pierre, Jay-J and Missy as well as her cockatiel Pretty Bird.

She was a world traveler who took trips to places in the US, Italy, Spain, England, France with her special friends and neighbors, Janet Pruitt, Susie Jeffreys, Sue O’Brien, and Carol Rogers at “the Hut”

Judy was a tomboy from the day she was born. She loved hanging out in her Daddy's general store, playing cards with the men and basketball with the boys. In her youth, she helped coach Little League baseball. She was one of the first two women to break the all-male members of the Raleigh Sports Club back in the 70's.

Judy is survived by her husband, Raymond Way James of Raleigh; brother, Edward Barham Young (Claire) of Virginia Beach, VA; nephew, David Young (Jennifer) of Dunn, NC; nephew, Stephen Young (Thea) of Hurdle Mills, NC and niece, Amy Locklear (Shawn) of Prattville, AL.

Visitation will be held at 11:00 am with a memorial service following at 12:00 pm on Friday, February 22, 2019 at Brown Wynne Funeral Home, 1701 E Millbrook Rd, Raleigh.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations or contributions to ReTails Thrift Shop which supports AnimalKind’s mission located at 2821 Spring Forest Road, Raleigh, NC 27616.