Judith Arvin Vandruff

Born 10/11/1928 in Henderson, Ky-died 1/1/22 in San Diego, Calif. That’s 94 years of living life and she did it to the fullest.

Her father died early in her life and she was raised by her energetic mother, Beatrice. She was the youngest of 3 daughters and the one who moved out to San Francisco with her mother. They both found jobs and Judy used to ride to work at Bank of America on the Cable Car. It was in their apartment building that she met her husband to be, Thomas Corbin Vandruff. They married in Reno, Nevada and took a summer long honeymoon traveling by car across the country visiting friends and relatives along the way. They continued to travel a lot in life since Tom had summers off due to his work in schools. Judy was mother to 2 children, Deborah and Corbin. She was the quintessential American mom; She always had home cooked meals ready and creative lunches to take to school, busy keeping the house together, driving kids to activities, gardening and always there for the family. She was a great mom.

After a move to San Diego, and the kids were out of the house, Judy and Tom moved to Pacific Beach where they enjoyed the slower pace and Tom retired from his jobs with the Spring Valley school district and the Navy Reserves. Unfortunately, he died unexpectedly in 1983 and Judy was left suddenly on her own. The plan for retirement had been to travel internationally, and after a time, Judy found groups she could travel with and did continue their dream of seeing much of the world’s wonders.

Especially notable was the group “Walkabout International” of San Diego where she met people, and she continued to be close with them for many years. She was an office volunteer and frequent walker on local and far off locales. They took trips all over the US and Europe, always staying in interesting accommodations such as lighthouses, youth hostels and river barges that only made the trips more memorable. She had several card and Rummy cube groups, one with the Walkabout Folks and a bimonthly gathering at the Mission Hills Methodist Church. She had a wide variety of friends from these organizations as well as enjoying her Membership in the San Diego Chapter of the PEO Sisterhood, a philanthropic based organization that supports education for women.

Besides the above activities, she enjoyed going on cruises to exotic locations with some of her friends. On one of these cruises, she met the second love of her life, Scott Pursley. The two of them shared many common interests including a love of travel and enjoyed spending time in several places such as his home in Denver, Hawaii, San Diego and the Vandruff family cabin at Lake Tahoe.

She always said, she has been very fortunate in life and had no complaints. In her last 5 years, she needed lots of assistance and so appreciated all the kind care she received from the staff at Sunrise Senior Living. She also found great comfort in the “Talking Books” she got from the Braille Center of San Diego and Los Angeles. As her eyesight failed, she became an avid reader of these books and always had a story going. Her life was full of family and friends and love.

She leaves a Son, Corbin Vandruff and his wife, Tatiana, 2 grandsons, Thomas and Daniel as well as 2 great grandchildren, Mia and Ben. She also leaves a daughter, Deborah Vandruff and her spouse, Susan Moeller.

In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations be made to your local Braille Center, Walkabout International or to Public Television.