Judy Bond

She was an extraordinary tennis player, highlighted by an invitation to play in the U.S. Open in New York City when she was 16. Tennis brought many opportunities for Judy, including travel to regional and national tournaments. Her mother, perhaps sensing other opportunities, once said, “Judy, if you don’t leave Chickasha you’ll never be known as anything but a tennis player.”

Judy was intrigued by her mother’s sentiment. One day, while playing in a tennis tournament in Kansas City, she spotted several tennis players from California who sported light hair and blue eyes. As Judy told the story, she wondered how she “might find a good looking guy like that.” The answer, it turned out, was advised by two of her family friends from Oklahoma. They encouraged her to transfer from the Oklahoma College for Women to Pomona College in Claremont, California.

Judy took their advice and became a Pomona College Sagehen. Her initial classwork in the school included a chemistry lab scheduled for 11:00 A.M. on Friday mornings. David Bond, a junior at the college, called her and said, “My chemistry lab is scheduled for Friday afternoon at 4:00 P.M., and I wonder if you would switch with me.” She laughed at this young fellow and said, “Why would I want to be in a Friday afternoon lab?”

Their worlds collided when Dave found someone else to switch classes with him. By a lovely coincidence, Judy and Dave were assigned as lab partners in that chemistry class. Soon, they would become partners for life. After Dave completed his enlistment in the Navy, serving on a minesweeper operating in the post-Korean war timeframe, they were married on July 16, 1960, at a beautiful wedding in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

Their son, Matt, was born in 1961 while Dave was finishing his engineering degree at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. Judy was a schoolteacher, a career she continued in subsequent moves to Prairie Village, Kansas, and St. Louis, Missouri. Dave became a career engineer with Proctor and Gamble. Their daughter, Amy, was born in 1971 in St. Louis, and Judy became a realtor shortly thereafter. Judy was often a multi-million dollar seller and was highly respected in the realty community in St. Louis.

Judy instilled a love of tennis in her entire family. She played tennis right-handed, threw balls left-handed, wrote right-handed, and ate meals left-handed. Her children, both right-handed, attended Mizzou, where Matt enjoyed playing in the band and Amy played on the tennis team. Matt became an engineer, and Amy is a physical therapist.

Dave took an early retirement in the 1990s so that he and Judy could travel the world. They visited Scandinavia, Tahiti, the Alps, Greece, many cities in Europe, the Himalayas, and dozens of other wonderful locations. Even in the midst of their travels, their favorite relaxation place was at the Lake of the Ozarks, where they could often be found floating in a quiet cove in the afternoon or water skiing early in the morning.

Judy and Dave were active in their churches: Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kansas, and Bellefontaine United Methodist Church in St. Louis, Missouri. They loved singing in the choir and served on several committees. Judy enjoyed worshiping online with the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in her later years.

They loved being parents of Matt and Amy, celebrating Matt's marriage to Linda Saiger and Amy’s marriage to Matt Vaughan. They shared greater joy as grandparents of Trevor and Casey, sons of Matt and Linda, and Sam and Jack, sons of Amy and Matt.

Dave passed away in January 2016 after extended illness. Judy remained active in her St. Louis neighborhood after Dave’s death. She volunteered to help restore the Twillman House in Spanish Lake, the close-knit community in which her family lived.

Judy was diagnosed with Leukemia in May 2020 and moved to Overland Park, Kansas, that summer. She lived independently in a beautiful community and loved watching birds by the pond outside her window. She remained strong and positive through the duration of her illness. Judy peacefully passed away on June 13, 2022, after her 25-month illness.

Judy Bond is survived by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren: Matt and Linda Bond of Kansas City, Missouri; Amy and Matt Vaughan of Prairie Village, Kansas; Trevor and Courtney Bond, and their daughters Kennedy and Sophie of Leawood, Kansas; Casey and Katlin Bond and their daughter Skylar of Lenexa, Kansas; Sam Vaughan, a junior at Colorado State University in Fort Collins; and Jack Vaughan, a junior at Shawnee Mission East High School.

The family adored Judy. They are especially grateful for her friends and all those who shared support and kindness during her illness and wonderful life. A memorial service for Judy Bond will be held at 1:30 P.M. on August 21, 2022, at Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kansas. An interment service will be held at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, in St. Louis, at 9:45 A.M. on August 29, 2022, where her remains will be placed alongside her husband. After the internment service, the family will host a reception at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Firehouse Bar & Grill, 3500 Lemay Ferry Avenue. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the KU Cancer Center.