Judith Anne Crowe passed away at the age of 77, in Kelowna, British Columbia, on Sunday, June 10th 2018, with family by her side, after a long battle with congestive heart failure and vascular dementia.
She is survived by her daughter Lesley and son-in-law Paul, her daughter Heather, her son David and daughter-in-law Tara & her grandchildren Aurora and Torin.
Judith was born in Toronto, Ontario on May 19th 1941. As a child, she moved with her family to Montreal, Quebec, where… Read More » she continued to reside for the majority of her adult life. She moved to Kelowna, a city in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, BC in 2012, in order to be closer to family. Her parents were Robert Harold Wilson and Annie Margaret Burkimsher. She is survived by her younger sister, Joyce Cornforth.
After graduation, Judy worked for a time at DuPont Canada, where she met her loving and dashing Scottish husband, Kenneth Crowe. They were happily married in the summer of 1964 and enjoyed 36 years together, before he passed away unexpectedly in 2000, at the age of 65.
Judy stayed home to raise their three children and was a wonderful homemaker. She was a talented cook, creating delicious meals from scratch. Desserts were her specialty…and revealing of her life-long sweet tooth. She was known for her homemade soups, scones and cheesecakes. She also loved to craft, which included sewing clothes, Halloween costumes and curtains, knitting blankets and chunky wool sweaters and various other crafts that she dabbled in, such as pottery and stained glass. She also quite enjoyed renovating and decorating projects. Ken came home one day and Judy & Heather had taken down a portion of the wall between the dining room and the living room. Mom declared, ”It’s going to be an archway with French doors!” Well, Ken took it from there. She adored gardening and had a natural green thumb. Her country garden in Malone, NY was always a riot of colours…rose bushes, peonies, tiger lilies, parrot tulips, red currant and raspberry bushes. She even made a point of having the metal grates around the city trees removed, so that she could plant yet more flowers to brighten Atwater Street, when she lived downtown. People would often stop to chat and compliment her when she was tending them. She always had a soft spot for animals and a house full of pets, mostly cats and dogs. She rescued and took in many strays and was always happy to help when one of her children brought home injured wildlife, or all sorts of surprise critters. Her last pet was a wee bichon-frise named Molly, who delighted her to no end. They cuddled together on the love seat (Judy fed Molly with a fork, from her own dinner plate) and snuggled together in bed at night. Molly crossed the rainbow bridge at age 15, several months earlier, and was likely running ahead of everyone to greet Judy.
Over the years, she did home daycare, ran a nursing home, cared for her own mom at home until she passed away and did the baking for Miami Ice, which served lunches and ice cream. She was always on the go…and could get more done in a day than three people put together. She had great energy. She was loving, generous, warm and was a “mom” to foreign exchange students, her kids’ friends and many others, far from home, over the years.
Some of the things Judy enjoyed most, after moving to the Okanagan, besides being able to spend more time with family, included attending concerts (The Irish Rovers!) and plays, drives in nature, visits to the duck pond, and stopping at Timmy’s for a cup of coffee and something sweet.
Special thanks to Jessica, who is a private care aide that became like a member of the family these past two years. The extra individual attention that she provided to Judy and all of the fun excursions made an immeasurable difference in her quality of life. Jessica, you are an angel. Thank-you for making Mom smile and laugh and for singing in the car with her!
Thanks also to the wonderful, caring staff on the Grouse neighbourhood at Glenmore Lodge, where Judy spent the last year. They made it possible for us to not be worried about her, when one of us or Jessica wasn’t there. The staff demonstrated over and over again that they care for the residents beyond the basics. They made an effort to treat Judy as a unique individual, getting to know her quirks, spending extra time with her, and in doing so, made a huge difference in the quality of her days there.
There will not be any memorial service held here, as the family have plans for their own individual ways of honoring her memory, after her remains are cremated.
To friends and family, you are welcome to share condolences on this page. We also invite you to share special memories, stories and even photos of Judy. Condolences can be offered to the family by visiting www.everdenrust.com 250-860-6440
Judy will be dearly missed. She touched many hearts.
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Judith Anne Crowe May 19 1941 June 10 2018.source
Décès pour la Ville: Kelowna, Province: Colombie britanique
