Judith N. Warren

She wanted to fly. Air Force ROTC/Angel Flight was where Judy met her husband of 47 years. Their first date was facilitated by the fact that she worked as a dorm switchboard operator and a coworker knew how to track her down when Lee came to ask her out. Because she was a woman ahead of her time, there were choices and she chose to get married instead of taking the FAA exams that were being held the same day.

Instead of flying, she helped others to soar. As a special education teacher, she inspired her students and their parents. As a tax preparer, she helped business owners improve their records and understand their bottom lines, which often led to both encouragement and celebration year after year. She cared very much about people and helped build community and plant trees in each neighborhood as she moved around.

Judy was a good teacher because she was an enthusiastic learner. She came to Nebraska the first time and learned to can food while finishing her schooling. She left for Alaska where she learned to cross-stitch, cross-country ski, score swim meets, and sew small pelts (including her own actual mink which she joked would not have impressed her mother). Back to Nebraska she expanded into quilting and enjoyed the friendship of ladies whose skill she admired. In Kansas and Oklahoma, she enjoyed learning about the natural history and crops of the regions.

When Judy came back to Nebraska the final time, she was able to fulfill a dream and bought a horse (Hadji) and then another (Kid). MUCH more to learn with a barnful of like-minded friends. She liked the seasonality of the tax preparation office (riding in January - March was not high on her list) and moved from a receptionist role to being an enrolled agent. She enjoyed the people more than tax code but made connections.

She took her daughters along on her adventures and made life-long learning a norm. She even had the opportunity to take the controls on a couple of small aircraft over the years for a taste of flying.

Preceded in death by her parents and her husband, she was loved and will be missed by her sisters Barbara Arthur and Nancy (Bill) Motyka, her daughters, Kathleen (Walter) Johnson and Deborah Warren, her grandchildren, Warren Johnson and Brittany (Alvaro) Grijalva, and her great-granddaughter, Natalia Grijalva, whom she met in person during a family visit in October.

VISITATION Thursday January 25, 5-7pm at the Mortuary followed by MEMORIAL SERVICE at 7pm. In lieu of flowers, memorials suggested to Henry Doorly Zoo or the Alzheimer’s Association - Nebraska Chapter.