Judith Evelyn Cluett

Judith “Judy” Evelyn Cluett (Brown) passed away at the age of 84, on March 13th. She was born on January 15, 1941, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to Willard and Florence Brown. From early on, she showed her independent and adventurous spirit, seeing people through eyes filled with God’s love and living life with curiosity and joy.

Judy loved learning and this extended into a desire to teach children. She graduated from Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas, in 1962, with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education. She received her Master of Education from the University of Arizona in 1967. She taught for 41 years in several schools, including at a Navajo reservation.

The first thing that Judy would want people to know is that she loved God. Through her parents’ diligence and efforts, she learned to love God and loved learning about God. Her mother prayed with her every night. Judy’s first memory was kneeling with her mother by the bed and praying. Her father travelled in her early years and was gone for weeks at a time. It was always a delight when he came home, and he was very faithful to take the family to church each Sunday. He did this as long as she was living at home when there was only one car. You can imagine how happy Judy was to hear that her dad had become a Christian after she had moved away and was teaching!

Some of her earliest and happiest memories were going to church with her parents at Westminster United Presbyterian Church. She loved going to church, reading her Bible, and playing piano and singing out of the Psalter/Hymnal. Wherever she moved, she quickly found a good church to attend, which included Providence Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Denver, Colorado; Westminster Presbyterian Church in Sydney, Nova Scotia; and Hope Reformed Church in Brampton, Ontario.

The second thing that Judy would want people to know is the importance of family. She met Dean Cluett in 1974 and developed a friendship. After retirement, she reconnected with Dean and was able to finally marry the love of her life on April 17, 2006. She loved sharing their unique love story. She viewed the 19 years of marriage that she had with Dean as her greatest adventure. They were able to enjoy numerous trips to beautiful Newfoundland, visits from family and friends at their cottage by the sea, and their little excursions to explore the area around them and find some antique stores along the way. Judy and Dean loved each other and loved living life together.

Judy was also thankful for the providential way that she became a mother to her two daughters. She was thrilled when her daughters married wonderful men and added “sons” to her family. She was known to be the family historian and loved staying in contact with many of her cousins to share what she had found.

Judy is preceded in death by her parents, her brother Melvin Brown, and a great-granddaughter Eden Flora Epp. She is survived by her husband of 19 years, Dean, her daughters Amy-Beth ( James) Epp and Julie (Drew) Cunningham, as well as five grandchildren - Dante (Hannah) Brown, Joshua (Rachel) Epp, Anna (Shiloh) Hamilton, Abigail Epp, Esther Epp - and 3 great-grandchildren - Hattie Brown, Jubilee Epp, Harold Hamilton She is also survived by her sister-in-law Marlene Brown, nephews Chad and Scott, and Judy's student and “son” Donald Denetdeal.