Judith Lynn Bergstrom Engle was born to Charles Franklin Haynie and Donna Mae Haynie, on July 5, 1947 in Muskegon, Michigan. She grew up surrounded by both immediate and extended family that were all very close to each other.
She attended Muskegon Seventh-Day Adventist Junior Academy through the 8th grade and made friendships that she maintained until her death. She went on to attend Grand Ledge Academy in Grand Ledge, Michigan where she excelled socially and academically. She attended undergraduate at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan and studied Music in Elementary Education. At one point, she caught the eye of an already-engaged Canadian student. He was watching her and accidentally spilled his glass of milk down the bread loaf chute in the university cafeteria and that’s where their story began. That chance encounter with Leslie Arthur Bergstrom led to their marriage on June 4, 1967 in Muskegon, Michigan. They soon headed west to Loma Linda, California, where he began dental school at Loma Linda University in 1968. Judy remained busy working as the Residency Coordinator and Administrator for the School of Ophthalmology. She was also active in the Women’s Auxiliary where they compiled the well-known Adventist cookbook, An Apple A Day. On the weekends, Judy and Les, along with his sister, Gail and her husband, Dennis rode motorcycles throughout the California foothills.
1972 was momentous as they celebrated the birth of Heather Lynn Bergstrom along with Les’ graduation from dental school in May. Because of his Canadian citizenship, they were required to move back to Canada for a brief time while he paid back some of his school loans. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was where they headed. Judy considered this to be the “coldest, most miserable place on the earth!” After a year, they moved to a slightly warmer climate much closer to her family in Michigan but still remaining on the Canadian side of the border. Wyoming, Ontario, population 1700, welcomed the town’s “new young dentist and his ‘American’ wife.” The quiet town didn’t know what hit them once the Bergstrom’s arrived! He developed a busy practice and she developed many new friendships. In 1973, Ryan Todd Bergstrom entered the world in bit more antiquated way as compared to Heather’s delivery. He was already three weeks late and weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces. There was no epidural, minimal pain support and Judy was told by the nurses at the hospital to drink a “warm beer” each time she nursed her new baby. They unfortunately had no idea who they were dealing with and Judy was never short on sharing her opinion.
The family remained in Wyoming, Ontario until 1983. During that time, she started Wee Ones Nursery School, helped manage a new dental practice, sold real estate, bought and helped Les restore a historic home - one of the oldest in the town dating back to the late 1800s. In their “spare time”, she signed both her and Les up to get their private pilot’s licenses and purchased a plane. They learned to ski - both cross country and downhill. She also enrolled them in sailing lessons, becoming certified sailors and venturing to the Caribbean. Judy started and taught the church youth Pathfinders group, sang in a competitive Women’s Barber Shoppe Quartet, took up Trap and Skeet shooting and won several competitions in her division, all the while, keeping the bridge over Lake Huron from Ontario to Michigan hot in order to stay closely in touch with her parents and extended family. She accomplished these things and maintained a busy social life with other local moms who were all “staying at home with their children.”
Feeling the need for more adventure, she and Les decided to accept a call to become missionaries in Africa. In 1983, they sold the house they had just spent three years renovating and headed to Blantyre, Malawi, Africa with only a 20-foot container of living supplies to be shipped. In theory, this was expected to arrive in Africa anywhere from one to three months after their arrival. Once it made landfall in Mozambique, it would travel through an actual war zone prior to arriving in Malawi. In reality, the container arrived six months later, and thanks to Les’ zealous preparation, everything smelled and tasted of mothballs. Judy’s mission-house was the only one with full wall to wall carpeting and well-coordinated bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, wall hangings. She had every household appliance that could run on 220 voltage. Her habit of staying busy had moved with her to Africa. She was very involved in the mission work at the conference office, hospital, clinic and church. She served as an Administrative Assistant to the conference Treasurer, became a phlebotomist and helped collect blood in a country that was heavily infected with HIV/AIDS at the time. She also served as the hospital dietician and kitchen supervisor, and corralled twelve missionary children into becoming a harmonious choir that was known throughout the entire community. Judy enjoyed travelling to the “bush churches”, spending the days worshiping the Lord in music and service, and often distributed large bags of donated clothing and shoes to the people within the villages. She developed some of the most cherished friendships of her lifetime during those years and in fact, a couple weeks before her death she was able to spend a week in Honolulu, Hawaii with some of them - Sharon and Franklin Ordelheide - partners in crime with Judy and Les. Franklin and Les would hold on and Judy and Sharon would race on to the next adventure throughout the next thirty-five years!
Finally, in 1987, she and Les felt it would be best to return to the States to integrate their children back into the American school system as they reached their high school years. With two suitcases each, they began the month-long return home via India, Thailand and Hong Kong. By this time, she and the family had traveled through multiple countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. This seemed to create a lifelong craving for travel that was never satisfied, no matter how many trips she went on.
This move landed them in Tennessee, but at least the weather was warmer, the taxes were less and three generations of her father’s fourteen siblings and family were located there. She had already made a trip to Tennessee prior to leaving Africa in order to purchase a practice for Les, a house for the family and find potential schools and a church where she felt comfortable starting this new chapter for her family. She was always confident and seemed to take the challenges in natural stride, knowing that somehow it would all work out.
Moving to Lebanon, a suburb of Nashville, didn’t slow her down a bit as she quickly became involved in commuting her children to Madison Campus Elementary and Madison Academy on a daily basis. She also stayed busy managing the new dental practice, doing medical exams for life insurance companies, again, leading both the church children’s choir and the adult choir, designing and decorating houses, churches, medical offices. She even re-did double-wide trailers in Kissimmee, Florida where her parents, by now, had become snowbirds. She also became involved in Women’s Ministry at church and played tennis on several teams. Again, while still being considered a “stay at home” mom. She managed to support - financially and emotionally - two children through graduate school. Heather was in medical school back at Loma Linda University and Ryan in law school at the University of Memphis. At home, she was always affectionately known as Dr. Jude - Doctor of Dental Surgery, Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Jurisprudence - she had been the cheerleader, the encourager, the “kick in the butt” that contributed to her family’s successful careers. She always said that she felt inferior because she had not finished her degree in college (even though she would have hated it), but yet, she was the one who got every other family member through theirs. In addition, if she ever wanted to do or become something, she just did it - she didn’t have to spend the time or money going to school to figure it out - she just did it - she had the amazing ability to figure it out herself and be successful at whatever she did because she was never afraid to try!!
Judy’s world was slightly “inconvenienced” when she developed a brain tumor – she was inconvenienced because the surgery didn’t fit in her schedule and she wasn’t going to be able to host the annual tennis Christmas party as she had already planned. Luckily, the tumor was a non-malignant type and she recovered.
Family always remained the most important thing to her and that world was shocked with the unexpected death of Les one morning in July 2012. At first, she was very overwhelmed. But, she began to find some momentum again. In an attempt to fill the gap left by her loss, she began to fill her time with ballroom dancing. Dancing was something she had always wanted to do but, Les had no rhythm. This provided new friendships, regular exercise and a way to get out. Luckily, the Lord had another man who was also without much rhythm and that was William “Bill” Engle. He was mourning the loss of his dear wife-Trish. Judy and Bill had known each other for several years through mutual friends and finally, these friends suggested that Bill start making some steps to re-engage with life. They suggested he go ballroom dancing with Judy, as that seemed to have helped her. That first dance session in 2015 began another chapter in both of their lives, and they decided to marry January 2016. It was a wonderful romance for both of them, and they were able to “truly enjoy” the fun in life as he had retired, her kids were grown, and they were both still young. It was a terrific match. Bill was able to keep Judy’s activities a little more moderate and Judy added a bit of excitement to Bill’s engineering background. Bill was a beloved addition to the Bergstrom family as a mentor, father figure, grandfather and a generally cool guy who loved golf and corvettes. Always willing to try something new, Judy learned to golf at the age of 68 and had all the outfits to show for it!
Unfortunately, that beautiful dance came to a close when Bill died from pancreatic cancer in August 2017, only six months ago. It was a time of difficult mourning for Judy as she had now outlived two fabulous husbands and had to start all over AGAIN! She had mentioned that she thought she might like to re-invent herself again – this time becoming a rodeo queen so that she could ride fast (of course) around the rodeo grounds, holding the American flag at the beginning of every show. Maybe the Lord heard that and said, “Enough Jude, just settle down - you are 70 years old, you know!!”
She loved meeting new people, music, dancing (she started taking Flamenco lessons because she could do that without a partner), traveling, and trying new things – new ideas, new foods, and new adventures.
As an attempt to alleviate some of the grief with so much loss, selling multiple properties, moving houses and getting through another set of “first holidays without a spouse,” she joined her forever friends, Franklin and Sharon Ordelheide once more in Honolulu for a week in January. It was the best gift they could have ever given each other - the last time to just “be” together. Little did anyone know what a short time Judy had left to share with any of us. Her illness occurred so quickly that it has left us shocked and at a tremendous loss. Judy was vivacious, encouraging, “the natural life of the party”, the “fun one,” and had a love for life and its adventures. But she was also brave, inquisitive and hopeful to the very last minute of her life. While caregivers held up an alphabet board, she fluttered her eyes to spell out that she was not afraid. She wanted more life but knew she could trust God. She truly lived life to its fullest and didn’t look back, knowing that the future would be even better.
She is survived by her brother Michael (Gayle) Haynie, her children - Heather (Todd) Waterhouse and Ryan (Heidi) Bergstrom, her grandchildren - Lauryn Waterhouse, Brooke (Kurtis) Kenerson, Abbye Waterhouse, Taylor Waterhouse, Ethan Harris, Aidan Bergstrom, Zane Bergstrom, Nina Bergstrom and Tucker Bergstrom.
She attended Muskegon Seventh-Day Adventist Junior Academy through the 8th grade and made friendships that she maintained until her death. She went on to attend Grand Ledge Academy in Grand Ledge, Michigan where she excelled socially and academically. She attended undergraduate at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan and studied Music in Elementary Education. At one point, she caught the eye of an already-engaged Canadian student. He was watching her and accidentally spilled his glass of milk down the bread loaf chute in the university cafeteria and that’s where their story began. That chance encounter with Leslie Arthur Bergstrom led to their marriage on June 4, 1967 in Muskegon, Michigan. They soon headed west to Loma Linda, California, where he began dental school at Loma Linda University in 1968. Judy remained busy working as the Residency Coordinator and Administrator for the School of Ophthalmology. She was also active in the Women’s Auxiliary where they compiled the well-known Adventist cookbook, An Apple A Day. On the weekends, Judy and Les, along with his sister, Gail and her husband, Dennis rode motorcycles throughout the California foothills.
1972 was momentous as they celebrated the birth of Heather Lynn Bergstrom along with Les’ graduation from dental school in May. Because of his Canadian citizenship, they were required to move back to Canada for a brief time while he paid back some of his school loans. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was where they headed. Judy considered this to be the “coldest, most miserable place on the earth!” After a year, they moved to a slightly warmer climate much closer to her family in Michigan but still remaining on the Canadian side of the border. Wyoming, Ontario, population 1700, welcomed the town’s “new young dentist and his ‘American’ wife.” The quiet town didn’t know what hit them once the Bergstrom’s arrived! He developed a busy practice and she developed many new friendships. In 1973, Ryan Todd Bergstrom entered the world in bit more antiquated way as compared to Heather’s delivery. He was already three weeks late and weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces. There was no epidural, minimal pain support and Judy was told by the nurses at the hospital to drink a “warm beer” each time she nursed her new baby. They unfortunately had no idea who they were dealing with and Judy was never short on sharing her opinion.
The family remained in Wyoming, Ontario until 1983. During that time, she started Wee Ones Nursery School, helped manage a new dental practice, sold real estate, bought and helped Les restore a historic home - one of the oldest in the town dating back to the late 1800s. In their “spare time”, she signed both her and Les up to get their private pilot’s licenses and purchased a plane. They learned to ski - both cross country and downhill. She also enrolled them in sailing lessons, becoming certified sailors and venturing to the Caribbean. Judy started and taught the church youth Pathfinders group, sang in a competitive Women’s Barber Shoppe Quartet, took up Trap and Skeet shooting and won several competitions in her division, all the while, keeping the bridge over Lake Huron from Ontario to Michigan hot in order to stay closely in touch with her parents and extended family. She accomplished these things and maintained a busy social life with other local moms who were all “staying at home with their children.”
Feeling the need for more adventure, she and Les decided to accept a call to become missionaries in Africa. In 1983, they sold the house they had just spent three years renovating and headed to Blantyre, Malawi, Africa with only a 20-foot container of living supplies to be shipped. In theory, this was expected to arrive in Africa anywhere from one to three months after their arrival. Once it made landfall in Mozambique, it would travel through an actual war zone prior to arriving in Malawi. In reality, the container arrived six months later, and thanks to Les’ zealous preparation, everything smelled and tasted of mothballs. Judy’s mission-house was the only one with full wall to wall carpeting and well-coordinated bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, wall hangings. She had every household appliance that could run on 220 voltage. Her habit of staying busy had moved with her to Africa. She was very involved in the mission work at the conference office, hospital, clinic and church. She served as an Administrative Assistant to the conference Treasurer, became a phlebotomist and helped collect blood in a country that was heavily infected with HIV/AIDS at the time. She also served as the hospital dietician and kitchen supervisor, and corralled twelve missionary children into becoming a harmonious choir that was known throughout the entire community. Judy enjoyed travelling to the “bush churches”, spending the days worshiping the Lord in music and service, and often distributed large bags of donated clothing and shoes to the people within the villages. She developed some of the most cherished friendships of her lifetime during those years and in fact, a couple weeks before her death she was able to spend a week in Honolulu, Hawaii with some of them - Sharon and Franklin Ordelheide - partners in crime with Judy and Les. Franklin and Les would hold on and Judy and Sharon would race on to the next adventure throughout the next thirty-five years!
Finally, in 1987, she and Les felt it would be best to return to the States to integrate their children back into the American school system as they reached their high school years. With two suitcases each, they began the month-long return home via India, Thailand and Hong Kong. By this time, she and the family had traveled through multiple countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. This seemed to create a lifelong craving for travel that was never satisfied, no matter how many trips she went on.
This move landed them in Tennessee, but at least the weather was warmer, the taxes were less and three generations of her father’s fourteen siblings and family were located there. She had already made a trip to Tennessee prior to leaving Africa in order to purchase a practice for Les, a house for the family and find potential schools and a church where she felt comfortable starting this new chapter for her family. She was always confident and seemed to take the challenges in natural stride, knowing that somehow it would all work out.
Moving to Lebanon, a suburb of Nashville, didn’t slow her down a bit as she quickly became involved in commuting her children to Madison Campus Elementary and Madison Academy on a daily basis. She also stayed busy managing the new dental practice, doing medical exams for life insurance companies, again, leading both the church children’s choir and the adult choir, designing and decorating houses, churches, medical offices. She even re-did double-wide trailers in Kissimmee, Florida where her parents, by now, had become snowbirds. She also became involved in Women’s Ministry at church and played tennis on several teams. Again, while still being considered a “stay at home” mom. She managed to support - financially and emotionally - two children through graduate school. Heather was in medical school back at Loma Linda University and Ryan in law school at the University of Memphis. At home, she was always affectionately known as Dr. Jude - Doctor of Dental Surgery, Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Jurisprudence - she had been the cheerleader, the encourager, the “kick in the butt” that contributed to her family’s successful careers. She always said that she felt inferior because she had not finished her degree in college (even though she would have hated it), but yet, she was the one who got every other family member through theirs. In addition, if she ever wanted to do or become something, she just did it - she didn’t have to spend the time or money going to school to figure it out - she just did it - she had the amazing ability to figure it out herself and be successful at whatever she did because she was never afraid to try!!
Judy’s world was slightly “inconvenienced” when she developed a brain tumor – she was inconvenienced because the surgery didn’t fit in her schedule and she wasn’t going to be able to host the annual tennis Christmas party as she had already planned. Luckily, the tumor was a non-malignant type and she recovered.
Family always remained the most important thing to her and that world was shocked with the unexpected death of Les one morning in July 2012. At first, she was very overwhelmed. But, she began to find some momentum again. In an attempt to fill the gap left by her loss, she began to fill her time with ballroom dancing. Dancing was something she had always wanted to do but, Les had no rhythm. This provided new friendships, regular exercise and a way to get out. Luckily, the Lord had another man who was also without much rhythm and that was William “Bill” Engle. He was mourning the loss of his dear wife-Trish. Judy and Bill had known each other for several years through mutual friends and finally, these friends suggested that Bill start making some steps to re-engage with life. They suggested he go ballroom dancing with Judy, as that seemed to have helped her. That first dance session in 2015 began another chapter in both of their lives, and they decided to marry January 2016. It was a wonderful romance for both of them, and they were able to “truly enjoy” the fun in life as he had retired, her kids were grown, and they were both still young. It was a terrific match. Bill was able to keep Judy’s activities a little more moderate and Judy added a bit of excitement to Bill’s engineering background. Bill was a beloved addition to the Bergstrom family as a mentor, father figure, grandfather and a generally cool guy who loved golf and corvettes. Always willing to try something new, Judy learned to golf at the age of 68 and had all the outfits to show for it!
Unfortunately, that beautiful dance came to a close when Bill died from pancreatic cancer in August 2017, only six months ago. It was a time of difficult mourning for Judy as she had now outlived two fabulous husbands and had to start all over AGAIN! She had mentioned that she thought she might like to re-invent herself again – this time becoming a rodeo queen so that she could ride fast (of course) around the rodeo grounds, holding the American flag at the beginning of every show. Maybe the Lord heard that and said, “Enough Jude, just settle down - you are 70 years old, you know!!”
She loved meeting new people, music, dancing (she started taking Flamenco lessons because she could do that without a partner), traveling, and trying new things – new ideas, new foods, and new adventures.
As an attempt to alleviate some of the grief with so much loss, selling multiple properties, moving houses and getting through another set of “first holidays without a spouse,” she joined her forever friends, Franklin and Sharon Ordelheide once more in Honolulu for a week in January. It was the best gift they could have ever given each other - the last time to just “be” together. Little did anyone know what a short time Judy had left to share with any of us. Her illness occurred so quickly that it has left us shocked and at a tremendous loss. Judy was vivacious, encouraging, “the natural life of the party”, the “fun one,” and had a love for life and its adventures. But she was also brave, inquisitive and hopeful to the very last minute of her life. While caregivers held up an alphabet board, she fluttered her eyes to spell out that she was not afraid. She wanted more life but knew she could trust God. She truly lived life to its fullest and didn’t look back, knowing that the future would be even better.
She is survived by her brother Michael (Gayle) Haynie, her children - Heather (Todd) Waterhouse and Ryan (Heidi) Bergstrom, her grandchildren - Lauryn Waterhouse, Brooke (Kurtis) Kenerson, Abbye Waterhouse, Taylor Waterhouse, Ethan Harris, Aidan Bergstrom, Zane Bergstrom, Nina Bergstrom and Tucker Bergstrom.
Judith Lynn Bergstrom Engle was born to Charles Franklin Haynie and Donna Mae Haynie, on July 5, 1947 in Muskegon, Michigan. She grew up surrounded by both immediate and extended family that were all very close to each other.
She attended Muskegon Seventh-Day Adventist Junior Academy through the 8th grade and made friendships that she maintained until her death. She went on to attend Grand Ledge Academy in Grand Ledge, Michigan where she excelled socially and academically. She attended undergraduate at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan and studied Music in Elementary Education. At one point, she caught the eye of an already-engaged Canadian student. He was watching her and accidentally spilled his glass of milk down the bread loaf chute in the university cafeteria and that’s where their story began. That chance encounter with Leslie Arthur Bergstrom led to their marriage on June 4, 1967 in Muskegon, Michigan. They soon headed west to Loma Linda, California, where he began dental school at Loma Linda University in 1968. Judy remained busy working as the Residency Coordinator and Administrator for the School of Ophthalmology. She was also active in the Women’s Auxiliary where they compiled the well-known Adventist cookbook, An Apple A Day. On the weekends, Judy and Les, along with his sister, Gail and her husband, Dennis rode motorcycles throughout the California foothills.
1972 was momentous as they celebrated the birth of Heather Lynn Bergstrom along with Les’ graduation from dental school in May. Because of his Canadian citizenship, they were required to move back to Canada for a brief time while he paid back some of his school loans. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was where they headed. Judy considered this to be the “coldest, most miserable place on the earth!” After a year, they moved to a slightly warmer climate much closer to her family in Michigan but still remaining on the Canadian side of the border. Wyoming, Ontario, population 1700, welcomed the town’s “new young dentist and his ‘American’ wife.” The quiet town didn’t know what hit them once the Bergstrom’s arrived! He developed a busy practice and she developed many new friendships. In 1973, Ryan Todd Bergstrom entered the world in bit more antiquated way as compared to Heather’s delivery. He was already three weeks late and weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces. There was no epidural, minimal pain support and Judy was told by the nurses at the hospital to drink a “warm beer” each time she nursed her new baby. They unfortunately had no idea who they were dealing with and Judy was never short on sharing her opinion.
The family remained in Wyoming, Ontario until 1983. During that time, she started Wee Ones Nursery School, helped manage a new dental practice, sold real estate, bought and helped Les restore a historic home - one of the oldest in the town dating back to the late 1800s. In their “spare time”, she signed both her and Les up to get their private pilot’s licenses and purchased a plane. They learned to ski - both cross country and downhill. She also enrolled them in sailing lessons, becoming certified sailors and venturing to the Caribbean. Judy started and taught the church youth Pathfinders group, sang in a competitive Women’s Barber Shoppe Quartet, took up Trap and Skeet shooting and won several competitions in her division, all the while, keeping the bridge over Lake Huron from Ontario to Michigan hot in order to stay closely in touch with her parents and extended family. She accomplished these things and maintained a busy social life with other local moms who were all “staying at home with their children.”
Feeling the need for more adventure, she and Les decided to accept a call to become missionaries in Africa. In 1983, they sold the house they had just spent three years renovating and headed to Blantyre, Malawi, Africa with only a 20-foot container of living supplies to be shipped. In theory, this was expected to arrive in Africa anywhere from one to three months after their arrival. Once it made landfall in Mozambique, it would travel through an actual war zone prior to arriving in Malawi. In reality, the container arrived six months later, and thanks to Les’ zealous preparation, everything smelled and tasted of mothballs. Judy’s mission-house was the only one with full wall to wall carpeting and well-coordinated bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, wall hangings. She had every household appliance that could run on 220 voltage. Her habit of staying busy had moved with her to Africa. She was very involved in the mission work at the conference office, hospital, clinic and church. She served as an Administrative Assistant to the conference Treasurer, became a phlebotomist and helped collect blood in a country that was heavily infected with HIV/AIDS at the time. She also served as the hospital dietician and kitchen supervisor, and corralled twelve missionary children into becoming a harmonious choir that was known throughout the entire community. Judy enjoyed travelling to the “bush churches”, spending the days worshiping the Lord in music and service, and often distributed large bags of donated clothing and shoes to the people within the villages. She developed some of the most cherished friendships of her lifetime during those years and in fact, a couple weeks before her death she was able to spend a week in Honolulu, Hawaii with some of them - Sharon and Franklin Ordelheide - partners in crime with Judy and Les. Franklin and Les would hold on and Judy and Sharon would race on to the next adventure throughout the next thirty-five years!
Finally, in 1987, she and Les felt it would be best to return to the States to integrate their children back into the American school system as they reached their high school years. With two suitcases each, they began the month-long return home via India, Thailand and Hong Kong. By this time, she and the family had traveled through multiple countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. This seemed to create a lifelong craving for travel that was never satisfied, no matter how many trips she went on.
This move landed them in Tennessee, but at least the weather was warmer, the taxes were less and three generations of her father’s fourteen siblings and family were located there. She had already made a trip to Tennessee prior to leaving Africa in order to purchase a practice for Les, a house for the family and find potential schools and a church where she felt comfortable starting this new chapter for her family. She was always confident and seemed to take the challenges in natural stride, knowing that somehow it would all work out.
Moving to Lebanon, a suburb of Nashville, didn’t slow her down a bit as she quickly became involved in commuting her children to Madison Campus Elementary and Madison Academy on a daily basis. She also stayed busy managing the new dental practice, doing medical exams for life insurance companies, again, leading both the church children’s choir and the adult choir, designing and decorating houses, churches, medical offices. She even re-did double-wide trailers in Kissimmee, Florida where her parents, by now, had become snowbirds. She also became involved in Women’s Ministry at church and played tennis on several teams. Again, while still being considered a “stay at home” mom. She managed to support - financially and emotionally - two children through graduate school. Heather was in medical school back at Loma Linda University and Ryan in law school at the University of Memphis. At home, she was always affectionately known as Dr. Jude - Doctor of Dental Surgery, Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Jurisprudence - she had been the cheerleader, the encourager, the “kick in the butt” that contributed to her family’s successful careers. She always said that she felt inferior because she had not finished her degree in college (even though she would have hated it), but yet, she was the one who got every other family member through theirs. In addition, if she ever wanted to do or become something, she just did it - she didn’t have to spend the time or money going to school to figure it out - she just did it - she had the amazing ability to figure it out herself and be successful at whatever she did because she was never afraid to try!!
Judy’s world was slightly “inconvenienced” when she developed a brain tumor – she was inconvenienced because the surgery didn’t fit in her schedule and she wasn’t going to be able to host the annual tennis Christmas party as she had already planned. Luckily, the tumor was a non-malignant type and she recovered.
Family always remained the most important thing to her and that world was shocked with the unexpected death of Les one morning in July 2012. At first, she was very overwhelmed. But, she began to find some momentum again. In an attempt to fill the gap left by her loss, she began to fill her time with ballroom dancing. Dancing was something she had always wanted to do but, Les had no rhythm. This provided new friendships, regular exercise and a way to get out. Luckily, the Lord had another man who was also without much rhythm and that was William “Bill” Engle. He was mourning the loss of his dear wife-Trish. Judy and Bill had known each other for several years through mutual friends and finally, these friends suggested that Bill start making some steps to re-engage with life. They suggested he go ballroom dancing with Judy, as that seemed to have helped her. That first dance session in 2015 began another chapter in both of their lives, and they decided to marry January 2016. It was a wonderful romance for both of them, and they were able to “truly enjoy” the fun in life as he had retired, her kids were grown, and they were both still young. It was a terrific match. Bill was able to keep Judy’s activities a little more moderate and Judy added a bit of excitement to Bill’s engineering background. Bill was a beloved addition to the Bergstrom family as a mentor, father figure, grandfather and a generally cool guy who loved golf and corvettes. Always willing to try something new, Judy learned to golf at the age of 68 and had all the outfits to show for it!
Unfortunately, that beautiful dance came to a close when Bill died from pancreatic cancer in August 2017, only six months ago. It was a time of difficult mourning for Judy as she had now outlived two fabulous husbands and had to start all over AGAIN! She had mentioned that she thought she might like to re-invent herself again – this time becoming a rodeo queen so that she could ride fast (of course) around the rodeo grounds, holding the American flag at the beginning of every show. Maybe the Lord heard that and said, “Enough Jude, just settle down - you are 70 years old, you know!!”
She loved meeting new people, music, dancing (she started taking Flamenco lessons because she could do that without a partner), traveling, and trying new things – new ideas, new foods, and new adventures.
As an attempt to alleviate some of the grief with so much loss, selling multiple properties, moving houses and getting through another set of “first holidays without a spouse,” she joined her forever friends, Franklin and Sharon Ordelheide once more in Honolulu for a week in January. It was the best gift they could have ever given each other - the last time to just “be” together. Little did anyone know what a short time Judy had left to share with any of us. Her illness occurred so quickly that it has left us shocked and at a tremendous loss. Judy was vivacious, encouraging, “the natural life of the party”, the “fun one,” and had a love for life and its adventures. But she was also brave, inquisitive and hopeful to the very last minute of her life. While caregivers held up an alphabet board, she fluttered her eyes to spell out that she was not afraid. She wanted more life but knew she could trust God. She truly lived life to its fullest and didn’t look back, knowing that the future would be even better.
She is survived by her brother Michael (Gayle) Haynie, her children - Heather (Todd) Waterhouse and Ryan (Heidi) Bergstrom, her grandchildren - Lauryn Waterhouse, Brooke (Kurtis) Kenerson, Abbye Waterhouse, Taylor Waterhouse, Ethan Harris, Aidan Bergstrom, Zane Bergstrom, Nina Bergstrom and Tucker Bergstrom.
She attended Muskegon Seventh-Day Adventist Junior Academy through the 8th grade and made friendships that she maintained until her death. She went on to attend Grand Ledge Academy in Grand Ledge, Michigan where she excelled socially and academically. She attended undergraduate at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan and studied Music in Elementary Education. At one point, she caught the eye of an already-engaged Canadian student. He was watching her and accidentally spilled his glass of milk down the bread loaf chute in the university cafeteria and that’s where their story began. That chance encounter with Leslie Arthur Bergstrom led to their marriage on June 4, 1967 in Muskegon, Michigan. They soon headed west to Loma Linda, California, where he began dental school at Loma Linda University in 1968. Judy remained busy working as the Residency Coordinator and Administrator for the School of Ophthalmology. She was also active in the Women’s Auxiliary where they compiled the well-known Adventist cookbook, An Apple A Day. On the weekends, Judy and Les, along with his sister, Gail and her husband, Dennis rode motorcycles throughout the California foothills.
1972 was momentous as they celebrated the birth of Heather Lynn Bergstrom along with Les’ graduation from dental school in May. Because of his Canadian citizenship, they were required to move back to Canada for a brief time while he paid back some of his school loans. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was where they headed. Judy considered this to be the “coldest, most miserable place on the earth!” After a year, they moved to a slightly warmer climate much closer to her family in Michigan but still remaining on the Canadian side of the border. Wyoming, Ontario, population 1700, welcomed the town’s “new young dentist and his ‘American’ wife.” The quiet town didn’t know what hit them once the Bergstrom’s arrived! He developed a busy practice and she developed many new friendships. In 1973, Ryan Todd Bergstrom entered the world in bit more antiquated way as compared to Heather’s delivery. He was already three weeks late and weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces. There was no epidural, minimal pain support and Judy was told by the nurses at the hospital to drink a “warm beer” each time she nursed her new baby. They unfortunately had no idea who they were dealing with and Judy was never short on sharing her opinion.
The family remained in Wyoming, Ontario until 1983. During that time, she started Wee Ones Nursery School, helped manage a new dental practice, sold real estate, bought and helped Les restore a historic home - one of the oldest in the town dating back to the late 1800s. In their “spare time”, she signed both her and Les up to get their private pilot’s licenses and purchased a plane. They learned to ski - both cross country and downhill. She also enrolled them in sailing lessons, becoming certified sailors and venturing to the Caribbean. Judy started and taught the church youth Pathfinders group, sang in a competitive Women’s Barber Shoppe Quartet, took up Trap and Skeet shooting and won several competitions in her division, all the while, keeping the bridge over Lake Huron from Ontario to Michigan hot in order to stay closely in touch with her parents and extended family. She accomplished these things and maintained a busy social life with other local moms who were all “staying at home with their children.”
Feeling the need for more adventure, she and Les decided to accept a call to become missionaries in Africa. In 1983, they sold the house they had just spent three years renovating and headed to Blantyre, Malawi, Africa with only a 20-foot container of living supplies to be shipped. In theory, this was expected to arrive in Africa anywhere from one to three months after their arrival. Once it made landfall in Mozambique, it would travel through an actual war zone prior to arriving in Malawi. In reality, the container arrived six months later, and thanks to Les’ zealous preparation, everything smelled and tasted of mothballs. Judy’s mission-house was the only one with full wall to wall carpeting and well-coordinated bedrooms, bathrooms, living room, wall hangings. She had every household appliance that could run on 220 voltage. Her habit of staying busy had moved with her to Africa. She was very involved in the mission work at the conference office, hospital, clinic and church. She served as an Administrative Assistant to the conference Treasurer, became a phlebotomist and helped collect blood in a country that was heavily infected with HIV/AIDS at the time. She also served as the hospital dietician and kitchen supervisor, and corralled twelve missionary children into becoming a harmonious choir that was known throughout the entire community. Judy enjoyed travelling to the “bush churches”, spending the days worshiping the Lord in music and service, and often distributed large bags of donated clothing and shoes to the people within the villages. She developed some of the most cherished friendships of her lifetime during those years and in fact, a couple weeks before her death she was able to spend a week in Honolulu, Hawaii with some of them - Sharon and Franklin Ordelheide - partners in crime with Judy and Les. Franklin and Les would hold on and Judy and Sharon would race on to the next adventure throughout the next thirty-five years!
Finally, in 1987, she and Les felt it would be best to return to the States to integrate their children back into the American school system as they reached their high school years. With two suitcases each, they began the month-long return home via India, Thailand and Hong Kong. By this time, she and the family had traveled through multiple countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. This seemed to create a lifelong craving for travel that was never satisfied, no matter how many trips she went on.
This move landed them in Tennessee, but at least the weather was warmer, the taxes were less and three generations of her father’s fourteen siblings and family were located there. She had already made a trip to Tennessee prior to leaving Africa in order to purchase a practice for Les, a house for the family and find potential schools and a church where she felt comfortable starting this new chapter for her family. She was always confident and seemed to take the challenges in natural stride, knowing that somehow it would all work out.
Moving to Lebanon, a suburb of Nashville, didn’t slow her down a bit as she quickly became involved in commuting her children to Madison Campus Elementary and Madison Academy on a daily basis. She also stayed busy managing the new dental practice, doing medical exams for life insurance companies, again, leading both the church children’s choir and the adult choir, designing and decorating houses, churches, medical offices. She even re-did double-wide trailers in Kissimmee, Florida where her parents, by now, had become snowbirds. She also became involved in Women’s Ministry at church and played tennis on several teams. Again, while still being considered a “stay at home” mom. She managed to support - financially and emotionally - two children through graduate school. Heather was in medical school back at Loma Linda University and Ryan in law school at the University of Memphis. At home, she was always affectionately known as Dr. Jude - Doctor of Dental Surgery, Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Jurisprudence - she had been the cheerleader, the encourager, the “kick in the butt” that contributed to her family’s successful careers. She always said that she felt inferior because she had not finished her degree in college (even though she would have hated it), but yet, she was the one who got every other family member through theirs. In addition, if she ever wanted to do or become something, she just did it - she didn’t have to spend the time or money going to school to figure it out - she just did it - she had the amazing ability to figure it out herself and be successful at whatever she did because she was never afraid to try!!
Judy’s world was slightly “inconvenienced” when she developed a brain tumor – she was inconvenienced because the surgery didn’t fit in her schedule and she wasn’t going to be able to host the annual tennis Christmas party as she had already planned. Luckily, the tumor was a non-malignant type and she recovered.
Family always remained the most important thing to her and that world was shocked with the unexpected death of Les one morning in July 2012. At first, she was very overwhelmed. But, she began to find some momentum again. In an attempt to fill the gap left by her loss, she began to fill her time with ballroom dancing. Dancing was something she had always wanted to do but, Les had no rhythm. This provided new friendships, regular exercise and a way to get out. Luckily, the Lord had another man who was also without much rhythm and that was William “Bill” Engle. He was mourning the loss of his dear wife-Trish. Judy and Bill had known each other for several years through mutual friends and finally, these friends suggested that Bill start making some steps to re-engage with life. They suggested he go ballroom dancing with Judy, as that seemed to have helped her. That first dance session in 2015 began another chapter in both of their lives, and they decided to marry January 2016. It was a wonderful romance for both of them, and they were able to “truly enjoy” the fun in life as he had retired, her kids were grown, and they were both still young. It was a terrific match. Bill was able to keep Judy’s activities a little more moderate and Judy added a bit of excitement to Bill’s engineering background. Bill was a beloved addition to the Bergstrom family as a mentor, father figure, grandfather and a generally cool guy who loved golf and corvettes. Always willing to try something new, Judy learned to golf at the age of 68 and had all the outfits to show for it!
Unfortunately, that beautiful dance came to a close when Bill died from pancreatic cancer in August 2017, only six months ago. It was a time of difficult mourning for Judy as she had now outlived two fabulous husbands and had to start all over AGAIN! She had mentioned that she thought she might like to re-invent herself again – this time becoming a rodeo queen so that she could ride fast (of course) around the rodeo grounds, holding the American flag at the beginning of every show. Maybe the Lord heard that and said, “Enough Jude, just settle down - you are 70 years old, you know!!”
She loved meeting new people, music, dancing (she started taking Flamenco lessons because she could do that without a partner), traveling, and trying new things – new ideas, new foods, and new adventures.
As an attempt to alleviate some of the grief with so much loss, selling multiple properties, moving houses and getting through another set of “first holidays without a spouse,” she joined her forever friends, Franklin and Sharon Ordelheide once more in Honolulu for a week in January. It was the best gift they could have ever given each other - the last time to just “be” together. Little did anyone know what a short time Judy had left to share with any of us. Her illness occurred so quickly that it has left us shocked and at a tremendous loss. Judy was vivacious, encouraging, “the natural life of the party”, the “fun one,” and had a love for life and its adventures. But she was also brave, inquisitive and hopeful to the very last minute of her life. While caregivers held up an alphabet board, she fluttered her eyes to spell out that she was not afraid. She wanted more life but knew she could trust God. She truly lived life to its fullest and didn’t look back, knowing that the future would be even better.
She is survived by her brother Michael (Gayle) Haynie, her children - Heather (Todd) Waterhouse and Ryan (Heidi) Bergstrom, her grandchildren - Lauryn Waterhouse, Brooke (Kurtis) Kenerson, Abbye Waterhouse, Taylor Waterhouse, Ethan Harris, Aidan Bergstrom, Zane Bergstrom, Nina Bergstrom and Tucker Bergstrom.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
