Sharon Woolley Judd

Sharon Woolley Judd was born in Los Angeles, CA, on July 21, 1940, and grew up in Santa Monica. She was a California girl through and through, graduating from Santa Monica High School and working part time at a beachside diner. She attended Brigham Young University, earning a BA in Clothing and Textiles, with a minor in history. As a young woman, she served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Santiago, Chile. She learned to speak Spanish and made many lifelong friends, while growing to love the people and country of Chile.

In 1965, she married Duane K. Judd, and together they raised five children. Sharon used her college degree and natural talents with needle and thread to grow a career that allowed her to work from home so that she could be there for her children every day when they got home from school. She sewed everything from high-tech backpacking tents to appliquéd t-shirts and was a designer for a giftware import company. Even when she wasn’t working, she could often be found at her sewing machine, making clothing for her children, or at her quilting frames, delicately hand-stitching one of her beautiful quilts. She was generous with these talents, making quilts for new mothers in her church family, often gifting them anonymously.

Sharon was a mother bear and her children’s fiercest advocate. Whether it was being the loudest voice on the sidelines of the soccer field or driving them on their paper routes when the weather was bad. She wasn’t afraid to take on schoolteachers when she thought they weren’t doing their best for her children’s education.

Even when Sharon retired and settled in Boise, she never really stopped working. She loved to travel and wanted to see as much of the world as possible. Starting in 2006, she and her husband spent two school years in China teaching university courses. They had so much love for their students, often inviting them into their humble apartment to further practice their English, and still keep in touch with many of them even now.

In 2010, once again feeling the need to travel and serve others, they spent 18 months as missionaries based in Johannesburg, South Africa, where they fearlessly travelled to most of the countries on the southeastern part of the African continent, meeting with church members to teach them various administrative skills. She again fell in love with the people she worked with and also enjoyed many safari trips, excited to see the natural beauty of this world.

Once settled back home again in Boise, Sharon continued to stay busy researching her family history, working in her beautiful yard growing the flowers she so loved, and she nearly always had a quilt set up on frames. She made sure all of her grandchildren had something made by her own hands - quilts, cloth dolls, aprons, and more.

Sharon is survived by her husband of 55 years, Duane K. Judd, her five children: Marné Judd Cales, Curtis Judd, Corey Judd, Cary Judd, Maren Judd Ou Yang, and ten grandchildren.