Born in Fargo, North Dakota, ("yes, and then they made a movie"), Judith lived a life as big as a movie. As a young nurse constricted by the Catholic nursing school she trained in, she threw it all over when she fell in love with a young drummer, Nick Ceroli (eventually of the Tijuana Brass), had a child, Michael, moved to Topanga Canyon in California, and on the day of a giant earthquake in Los Angeles in February, 1971, headed for the Slocan Valley as a single mother.
"I wanted to get back to four seasons," she said, and a place "right off the beat." She was, if not an outright war resister, having a hard time in the US, had a male child, and didn't want him ending up in the war machine – the Viet Nam war. At the time, she needed her former husband's agreement to bring her five-year-old son with her. So with his permission and a small group of people from California, she and Michael moved to the Slocan Valley.
Judy, as we knew her then, may have been one of the first hippie women living in Slocan City, and in those early days, it wasn't easy. Nor was her son's early years as a hippie kid at the Slocan Park school.
But Ceroli, an outsider at first, became an integral part of the Slocan Valley, helping to forge new institutions, the early food buying co-op, as a founder of decades-running Theatre Energy, an early member of the Vallican Whole School, Appledale Daycare, the Dumont Creek Burial Society, as a carpenter and crew supervisor at Vallican Whole work days, as a mediator in difficult land negotiations among Reformed Sons of Freedom land holders in the New Settlement, a participant in Common Ground, a group that met in Perrière's basement to discuss logging and forestry, and then The Slocan Valley Community Legacy Society, and most recently as founder of the Slocan Valley Grassroots Grammas, raising funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
There were volatile times in founding some of those institutions, but also the crossing of cultural boundaries: many men didn't want daycare in the Slocan Valley, but women from all cultures did, and there began friendships. At her home in Vallican, her surrounding neighbours, at first sceptical of this single woman/newcomer, gradually accepted her as they saw her hard work, especially when they saw she was the first person out shovelling dirt onto a fire started in the bush by local kids.
Many years later, in 1998, Judith's house in Vallican burned to the ground, and she rebuilt a warm and welcoming home, the scene of many deep, long and hilarious conversations over glasses of wine.
Judith reviewed her life in extensive tapes that are now online with the Slocan Valley Historical Society; among many issues, she delves into her decades with Theatre Energy, writing and performing local plays with newcomers from the US and from Canada, digging into local history, culture and land, and learning and falling head over heels with the craft and life of theatre.
Judith chose to live her last years, with a multitude of health issues, in her home, with the help of many friends and Home Support workers. She died with friends close by, and was buried, as she wished, in a shroud at the Dumont Creek Cemetery.
She said many wise things, but this applies to all of us who mourn for her: "I learned when my house burned down; it's okay to feel two things at one time: sad and joyful all at the same time."
A gathering to remember and tell Judith stories, sad and joyful all at once, will be held next fall.
Judith leaves behind family she loved, her sister Debbie Madsen in Manhattan, Kansas, brother Jeffrey Madsen in The Villages, Florida and son Michael Ceroli in Encino, California.
In her honour, donations may be made to the Slocan Valley Community Legacy Society and the Slocan Valley Grassroots Grammas.
Obituary source: Valley Voice [New Denver BC] – 4 November 2021
"I wanted to get back to four seasons," she said, and a place "right off the beat." She was, if not an outright war resister, having a hard time in the US, had a male child, and didn't want him ending up in the war machine – the Viet Nam war. At the time, she needed her former husband's agreement to bring her five-year-old son with her. So with his permission and a small group of people from California, she and Michael moved to the Slocan Valley.
Judy, as we knew her then, may have been one of the first hippie women living in Slocan City, and in those early days, it wasn't easy. Nor was her son's early years as a hippie kid at the Slocan Park school.
But Ceroli, an outsider at first, became an integral part of the Slocan Valley, helping to forge new institutions, the early food buying co-op, as a founder of decades-running Theatre Energy, an early member of the Vallican Whole School, Appledale Daycare, the Dumont Creek Burial Society, as a carpenter and crew supervisor at Vallican Whole work days, as a mediator in difficult land negotiations among Reformed Sons of Freedom land holders in the New Settlement, a participant in Common Ground, a group that met in Perrière's basement to discuss logging and forestry, and then The Slocan Valley Community Legacy Society, and most recently as founder of the Slocan Valley Grassroots Grammas, raising funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
There were volatile times in founding some of those institutions, but also the crossing of cultural boundaries: many men didn't want daycare in the Slocan Valley, but women from all cultures did, and there began friendships. At her home in Vallican, her surrounding neighbours, at first sceptical of this single woman/newcomer, gradually accepted her as they saw her hard work, especially when they saw she was the first person out shovelling dirt onto a fire started in the bush by local kids.
Many years later, in 1998, Judith's house in Vallican burned to the ground, and she rebuilt a warm and welcoming home, the scene of many deep, long and hilarious conversations over glasses of wine.
Judith reviewed her life in extensive tapes that are now online with the Slocan Valley Historical Society; among many issues, she delves into her decades with Theatre Energy, writing and performing local plays with newcomers from the US and from Canada, digging into local history, culture and land, and learning and falling head over heels with the craft and life of theatre.
Judith chose to live her last years, with a multitude of health issues, in her home, with the help of many friends and Home Support workers. She died with friends close by, and was buried, as she wished, in a shroud at the Dumont Creek Cemetery.
She said many wise things, but this applies to all of us who mourn for her: "I learned when my house burned down; it's okay to feel two things at one time: sad and joyful all at the same time."
A gathering to remember and tell Judith stories, sad and joyful all at once, will be held next fall.
Judith leaves behind family she loved, her sister Debbie Madsen in Manhattan, Kansas, brother Jeffrey Madsen in The Villages, Florida and son Michael Ceroli in Encino, California.
In her honour, donations may be made to the Slocan Valley Community Legacy Society and the Slocan Valley Grassroots Grammas.
Obituary source: Valley Voice [New Denver BC] – 4 November 2021
Born in Fargo, North Dakota, ("yes, and then they made a movie"), Judith lived a life as big as a movie. As a young nurse constricted by the Catholic nursing school she trained in, she threw it all over when she fell in love with a young drummer, Nick Ceroli (eventually of the Tijuana Brass), had a child, Michael, moved to Topanga Canyon in California, and on the day of a giant earthquake in Los Angeles in February, 1971, headed for the Slocan Valley as a single mother.
"I wanted to get back to four seasons," she said, and a place "right off the beat." She was, if not an outright war resister, having a hard time in the US, had a male child, and didn't want him ending up in the war machine – the Viet Nam war. At the time, she needed her former husband's agreement to bring her five-year-old son with her. So with his permission and a small group of people from California, she and Michael moved to the Slocan Valley.
Judy, as we knew her then, may have been one of the first hippie women living in Slocan City, and in those early days, it wasn't easy. Nor was her son's early years as a hippie kid at the Slocan Park school.
But Ceroli, an outsider at first, became an integral part of the Slocan Valley, helping to forge new institutions, the early food buying co-op, as a founder of decades-running Theatre Energy, an early member of the Vallican Whole School, Appledale Daycare, the Dumont Creek Burial Society, as a carpenter and crew supervisor at Vallican Whole work days, as a mediator in difficult land negotiations among Reformed Sons of Freedom land holders in the New Settlement, a participant in Common Ground, a group that met in Perrière's basement to discuss logging and forestry, and then The Slocan Valley Community Legacy Society, and most recently as founder of the Slocan Valley Grassroots Grammas, raising funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
There were volatile times in founding some of those institutions, but also the crossing of cultural boundaries: many men didn't want daycare in the Slocan Valley, but women from all cultures did, and there began friendships. At her home in Vallican, her surrounding neighbours, at first sceptical of this single woman/newcomer, gradually accepted her as they saw her hard work, especially when they saw she was the first person out shovelling dirt onto a fire started in the bush by local kids.
Many years later, in 1998, Judith's house in Vallican burned to the ground, and she rebuilt a warm and welcoming home, the scene of many deep, long and hilarious conversations over glasses of wine.
Judith reviewed her life in extensive tapes that are now online with the Slocan Valley Historical Society; among many issues, she delves into her decades with Theatre Energy, writing and performing local plays with newcomers from the US and from Canada, digging into local history, culture and land, and learning and falling head over heels with the craft and life of theatre.
Judith chose to live her last years, with a multitude of health issues, in her home, with the help of many friends and Home Support workers. She died with friends close by, and was buried, as she wished, in a shroud at the Dumont Creek Cemetery.
She said many wise things, but this applies to all of us who mourn for her: "I learned when my house burned down; it's okay to feel two things at one time: sad and joyful all at the same time."
A gathering to remember and tell Judith stories, sad and joyful all at once, will be held next fall.
Judith leaves behind family she loved, her sister Debbie Madsen in Manhattan, Kansas, brother Jeffrey Madsen in The Villages, Florida and son Michael Ceroli in Encino, California.
In her honour, donations may be made to the Slocan Valley Community Legacy Society and the Slocan Valley Grassroots Grammas.
Obituary source: Valley Voice [New Denver BC] – 4 November 2021
"I wanted to get back to four seasons," she said, and a place "right off the beat." She was, if not an outright war resister, having a hard time in the US, had a male child, and didn't want him ending up in the war machine – the Viet Nam war. At the time, she needed her former husband's agreement to bring her five-year-old son with her. So with his permission and a small group of people from California, she and Michael moved to the Slocan Valley.
Judy, as we knew her then, may have been one of the first hippie women living in Slocan City, and in those early days, it wasn't easy. Nor was her son's early years as a hippie kid at the Slocan Park school.
But Ceroli, an outsider at first, became an integral part of the Slocan Valley, helping to forge new institutions, the early food buying co-op, as a founder of decades-running Theatre Energy, an early member of the Vallican Whole School, Appledale Daycare, the Dumont Creek Burial Society, as a carpenter and crew supervisor at Vallican Whole work days, as a mediator in difficult land negotiations among Reformed Sons of Freedom land holders in the New Settlement, a participant in Common Ground, a group that met in Perrière's basement to discuss logging and forestry, and then The Slocan Valley Community Legacy Society, and most recently as founder of the Slocan Valley Grassroots Grammas, raising funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
There were volatile times in founding some of those institutions, but also the crossing of cultural boundaries: many men didn't want daycare in the Slocan Valley, but women from all cultures did, and there began friendships. At her home in Vallican, her surrounding neighbours, at first sceptical of this single woman/newcomer, gradually accepted her as they saw her hard work, especially when they saw she was the first person out shovelling dirt onto a fire started in the bush by local kids.
Many years later, in 1998, Judith's house in Vallican burned to the ground, and she rebuilt a warm and welcoming home, the scene of many deep, long and hilarious conversations over glasses of wine.
Judith reviewed her life in extensive tapes that are now online with the Slocan Valley Historical Society; among many issues, she delves into her decades with Theatre Energy, writing and performing local plays with newcomers from the US and from Canada, digging into local history, culture and land, and learning and falling head over heels with the craft and life of theatre.
Judith chose to live her last years, with a multitude of health issues, in her home, with the help of many friends and Home Support workers. She died with friends close by, and was buried, as she wished, in a shroud at the Dumont Creek Cemetery.
She said many wise things, but this applies to all of us who mourn for her: "I learned when my house burned down; it's okay to feel two things at one time: sad and joyful all at the same time."
A gathering to remember and tell Judith stories, sad and joyful all at once, will be held next fall.
Judith leaves behind family she loved, her sister Debbie Madsen in Manhattan, Kansas, brother Jeffrey Madsen in The Villages, Florida and son Michael Ceroli in Encino, California.
In her honour, donations may be made to the Slocan Valley Community Legacy Society and the Slocan Valley Grassroots Grammas.
Obituary source: Valley Voice [New Denver BC] – 4 November 2021
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