Judith S. Baughman

A memorial service for Judith S. Baughman, 81, will be held at 1 pm on Saturday, March 23, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, officiated by the Rev. Chris Denny. The visitation will be at 2 pm. Memorials may be made to the Ron Baughman Scholarship Fund, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1715 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210.

Judy died on Monday, March 18, 2024, following a brief illness. Born in Grinnell, Iowa, on April 28, 1942 and raised on a farm in Newburg, Iowa, she was the daughter of Charlie and Mildred Smith. She attended the University of Iowa, earning her B.A. and M.A. in English. Her teaching career began in Springfield, Missouri, in 1966. She then moved to South Carolina in 1969 to continue her graduate work. At the University of South Carolina, she taught in the College of Applied Professional Sciences, then known as General Studies. Starting in 1981, she began working as an editor with Dr. Matthew J. Bruccoli at USC. She is the author of F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Literary Masters series, editor of the 1920s volume in the American Decades series, and coeditor of books about Fitzgerald, Hemingway, John le Carre, John Hall Wheelock, and many more. In all, she has more than 40 volumes of books to her name.

Known for her warmth and good humor, Judy loved spending time with family and friends, playing with her cats, reading, and doing crossword puzzles. She was an active member of Westminster Presbyterian Church where she served as both an Elder and a Deacon. She also taught in the Seekers Sunday School class and volunteered in Kids’ Cafe.

She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Smith Baughman (Jesse Inman) of Columbia; sister, Sandy Smith of Frederick, MD; brother, Chuck Smith (Diane) of Havelock, NC; brother-in-law, Charles Carnahan of Grinnell, Iowa; sisters-in-law, Kay Wickett and Nancy Baughman, both of Indianola, Iowa.

She was preceded in death by her husband Ron; her parents, Charlie and Mildred Smith; sister, Jean Carnahan; and brother-in-law, Veryl Wickett.

When asked by her daughter what she would like to have included in her obituary, Judy said, “You can highlight my marriage to Robert Redford. Or my Nobel Prize in editing. Or that I was the first person to land on Mars.” You got it, Mama.

Judy will be dearly missed by all who knew her.