Judy J Olmsted

Judy J Olmsted, “Gramma,” animal lover, & world traveler, 77

On Nov 22, 2020, Judy Johnson Olmsted, after a three-year battle with cancer, passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by her family and lifelong friends.  Born Jan 5, 1943 in New York City to Jay Johnson and Anne Morath Johnson, she grew up in Stamford, CT.  Her parents were musicians and actors and imbued in Judy a sense of wonder, play, and a passion for travel that she carried throughout her life.  From her parents, she also developed a love of word play, rhymes, and puns, and she had a quirky sense of humor and a passion for crossword puzzles. 

Judy was a consummate life-long learner and reader; she could be found with a book in her hands every day.  She attended Stamford High (class of 1960) and Russell Sage College (Troy, NY 1961-1962) and University of Connecticut for her undergraduate work (where she received a grant from the National Science Foundation) and stayed on at UConn for her Master’s in Microbiology.  In 1964 Judy eloped with her high school sweetheart, Gerald “Gerry” Olmsted and the couple were married for over 50 years until his passing in 2016.  They were the proud parents of Christopher Olmsted (now Basking Ridge, NJ) and Scott Olmsted (now Melrose, FL).

Judy loved her sons, as she loved both of her daughters-in-law, Caren and Aimee.  And then there were her grandchildren—her greatest loves of all.  Her later years were all about spending every minute possible with her four precious grandchildren: Ben (18) and Matthew (13) (Chris and Caren’s boys) and Eric (17) and Samantha (13) (Scott and Aimee’s kids).

Over the course of her life, Judy lived all up and down the east coast.  When her boys were young, she and Gerry bought a 75-acre campground in central Maine, where they lived and worked during the early 1980’s.  From there they moved to Media, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia), where Gerry was the Chief of Police.  After Pennsylvania it was back to Connecticut, where they lived on Candlewood Lake in Brookfield, CT.  And then in 1987 they decided they had had enough of the cold and moved to Marco Island, Florida.  Judy lived in Florida for the rest of her life, moving from Marco Island to Gainesville, from Gainesville to Melrose (on beautiful Lake Santa Fe), from Melrose to Cudjoe Key (a hop, skip, and jump from Key West), and finally back to Melrose, where she lived across the street from her son Scott and his family.

Judy loved animals—she had many unique and exotic pets over the years—squirrels, skunks, a monkey, ferrets, birds, and a multitude of four-footed furry friends.  In her later years, one of her favorite things was to take her granddaughter Samantha to her horseback riding lessons and visit with all the animals and watch Sammy ride.  Judy loved to dance since she was a child, and was graceful on her feet, and would cut a rug with her grandchildren at the drop of a hat.  Music made her heart sing and was always playing in the background.  She was also an adventurer, and travelled the world with her son Chris and his family, and her sisters-in-law, Pat Martin and Marge Olmsted, and lifelong best friends, Peg and Neal Wooten.  Her grandsons Ben and Matthew were two of her favorite traveling companions, and Ben was Judy’s frequent roommate for many of those wonderful trips.  The two of them may have squabbled like siblings, but boy did they love each other!

Her love of ice cream was legen-dairy!  She and her grandson Eric had a standing Friday ice cream and Netflix date night, and her other grandson Matthew marveled at the fact that she stopped at every ice cream parlor and gelato shop they passed when traveling in Hawaii, Paris, Italy, and Iceland!  Judy also had an extreme tolerance for losing at Spades to all her grandchildren, and she did so frequently and with good humor, much to their delight.

Judy was supremely kind and generous with her time, energy, and love and will be sorely missed.  We will all truly have a Blue Christmas without her.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Judy’s name to the Friends of Melrose Elementary School, the education foundation that supports the local elementary school where Judy spent many hours volunteering:  https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/friendsofmes