Judith Leona Miner

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Judith Leona Miner left

Judith Leona Miner (Judy) died on Sunday evening, July 15, 2012 at her new home in Swanzey, New Hampshire following a courageous battle with abdominal cancer. She had been receiving excellent and very loving care by the nurses and staff of the nonprofit Hospice of Keene, New Hampshire for over two months.

Judy was born on June 14, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois to Alfred and Lucille Grabski of Broadview, IL. A 1960 graduate of Proviso East High School in Maywood, IL, Judy was a National Merit Scholarship finalist there and a member of the Pageant newspaper staff.

Judy began her college years at the University of Illinois in Urbana. During her freshman year there she participated in the nationwide telecast GE College Bowl as the youngest of four team members representing her school. After her freshman year Judy entered St. Marys College at Notre Dame where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1964. She made many good friends at St. Marys with whom she kept in touch over her lifetime.

Immediately after college Judy joined a girls secondary school, St. Francis de Sales in Powhatan, Virginia. There she met her future husband, Bill Miner, a mathematics teacher at the nearby boys school, St. Emma Military Academy.

Judy and Bill were married at St. Eulalia Church in Maywood, Illinois on August 14, 1965. While in the Chicago area Judy worked as a proof reader for Commerce Clearing House while Bill completed his Bachelor of Science degree at the Chicago Circle Campus of the University of Illinois. Judy and Bill lived two years in Chicago before moving back to the above-mentioned Virginia schools for another two years. While there their first child, Beth Marie, was born in Richmond, VA. They also obtained their first of several dogs and cats (fur girls Judy called them), an Irish Setter named Ness. Judy and Bill subsequently enjoyed three more dogs, Shadow, Heidi and Cady and four cats, Patches, Tandy, Adobe and Hazel.

Judy and Bill then moved to Vermont where Judy planned their second home and Bill, with the help of family and friends, built the exterior frame. The initial house building took six years while Judy and Bill lived in their 24 ft. x 24 ft. garage they built first. Their second child, Kevin William, was born in Burlington, VT. Bill taught mathematics for two years before his employment at the University of Vermont Police Services as a dispatcher for the next 28 years. Beth later graduated from Mount Abraham High School in Bristol, VT as Valedictorian of her class. Beth and Kevin both graduated with honors from the University of Vermont. Beth later obtained her Masters Degree in Child Development at Wheelock College in Boston. She currently works at the Child Development Center at Keene State College. Kevin completed law school at Marshall-Wythe Law School at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Kevin is currently a partner with a large immigration law firm in Atlanta, Georgia.

While in Vermont Judy raised her two children with great care and competence, organized and pre-planted each summers vegetable garden, wrote a complete vegan cookbook for her family, and began her many years study of computer usage. She became extremely proficient with computers and applications, especially with Linux. She was known on-line as Granny Geek. Judy was very proud of her children and their accomplishments. She was also very fond of her grandchildren, Corinne, Ethan and Grace (Kevin and Tammy Miners children) and Sarah and Adam (Beth and Joe Muccis children).

Judy was an accomplished pianist and organist and especially enjoyed classical music and opera. When her children were young, Judy was involved with La Leche League. In her later years she earned a Masters degree in Theology from St. Michaels College in Colchester, Vermont. She also became an Oblate of St. Benedict. During the 1990s Judy founded the Vermont Vegetarian Society (VVS) which held numerous dinners in Vermont. She also organized a periodic VVS newsletter. VVS is now in the hands of a capable and devoted manager, Siobhan Donegan of Burlington, VT. Judy also remained politically well-informed throughout her life as a lifelong Democrat.

Judy and Bill moved to their new home in Swanzey, New Hampshire in the late spring of 2012 to be closer to daughter Beth and family. She briefly enjoyed her new home and especially her 70th birthday on Flag Day, June 14th. Most of her far-flung family was present that day.

Judy was predeceased by her parents who had moved to Vermont from Arizona in the early 1980s to be closer to Judy and family. She leaves her husband, Bill, her children Beth and Kevin and their families, her brother Tim and sister-in-law Susie Grabski of Vero Beach, Florida, her aunt, Virginia Kraft of Niles, Michigan, her second cousin Tom Sturm and his family of Huntington, Vermont and numerous other cousins and their families as well as many good friends and neighbors in Vermont and elsewhere.

A family and friends service to honor Judys life will be organized by the family, for sometime in early October. Information about this service can be found on this website, www.cheshirefamilyfuneralhome.com as soon as the family organizes it.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Judys name can be made to the following organizations:

The Hospice Dept. at Home Health Care Hospice and Community Services at P.O. Box 564, Keene, NH 03431 or 390 Marlboro St. Keene, NH 03431
The Addison County Humane Society at 236 Boardman St., Middlebury, VT 05753
Green Mountain Animal Defenders, P.O. Box 4577, Burlington, VT 05406 or at www.GMAD.info
The Benedictine Sisters of Erie at 6101 East Lake Rd., Erie, PA 16511 or at www.eriebenedictines.org
The Sisters of Mercy at 101 Mansfield Ave., Burlington, VT 05401
The Monadnock Humane Society at 101 West Swanzey Rd., Swanzey, NH 03446.

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