Judith St. John passed away March 15, 2019 at home surrounded by family in Mount Vernon, Washington.

She was born November 28, 1939 to Harold and Flora Rector in Aurora, Illinois and graduated from Bellingham High School in 1958.

While playing tennis with a friend from high school, she had a chance encounter with the boy’s cousin, Donald St. John. Little did she know Hector had asked his cousin to come check out the girl he wanted to date. After the tennis date, Judith went home and told her mother she had met the man she was going to marry. Three years later she married Donald. They were together 58 years until Donald’s passing in 2017.

Judith worked in the healthcare sector her entire life. She held jobs as a caregiver at Skagit Valley Convalescent Center, Central supply technician at United General Hospital in Sedro Woolley, and ultimately retired from Skagit Valley Hospital as a Central supply technician in 2002.

Judith lived a full life enriched by a number of activities. She kept score for women’s softball games that Donald coached, affectionately referred to as “Mama cat.” She continued watching all her grandchildren play sports as they grew up. She and Donald loved the family dogs they had over the years and would always bring them to the games to chase balls. Judith was also an avid billiards player and outdoors enthusiast. She enjoyed crabbing at March’s Point, camping near peaceful bodies of water, road trips to eastern Washington, and day trips with the top down in the family convertible. She loved to feel the warm sun of a Washington summer.

She is survived by her four children, Debbie/Loi Caldwell, Jon/Audrey St. John, Heidi/Bob Hawkins and Aaron St. John; eight grandchildren, Stephen Caldwell, Zachary Caldwell, Holly/Sean Sherrick, Kalanit Yatrofsky, Crystal Aves, Aaron, Angela, Elizabeth and great-grandson Stephen; Sisters, Anne Jewell of Lummi Island, Sara Raintree of Coupeville and Brother, George Rector of Oak Harbor. She is predeceased by her daughter, Laura and husband, Don.

No memorial service is planned. Instead, Judy asked that people think of her when it snows. She would always marvel as the flakes descended from the heavens, pristinely covering everything they touched. Remembrances may be made to Hospice of the Northwest or your favorite charity.