Mary Walsh Judge died on Saturday, Sept. 17, at the Community Hospice Inn at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, N.Y. She was 83.
Mary was born in Syracuse, N.Y., on May 15, 1928, to Mary Reilly Walsh and John Gaynor Walsh Sr. Her father was vice president of finances at Southern Pacific Railroad and a former president of the Erie and Lakawanna Railroad. Mary grew up in various places across the U.S., including Cleveland, Ohio, South Egremont and New York city. But her life always brought her back to Albany, where she graduated from the Academy of the Sacred Heart at Kenwood in 1946.
It was in Albany that she met her husband and in 1951, Mary married the love of her life, Dr. Harry Mills Judge. Harry introduced her to the joys of his boyhood summer home when they honeymooned for a week at the Chirgwin House in Edgartown. Throughout their 54 years of marriage Mary and Harry continued the family tradition of spending August on West Chop near Harry’s cousins, John and Nancy Mills, Howard and Patricia Mills, Marcy and John Accola and Prudence Wagoner Hotchkiss, who all predeceased her. Mary maintained a summer home that welcomed family, friends, and children with good cooking and an open door. She was good friends with the late Millie Hope and to the family of Robert and Rita Gale, all of Vineyard Haven. She was also close friends with the late Dorothy Lennihan of West Chop and with her daughter, Babs Honey, and grandchildren, Tommy and Sandra, all of Wellington, and Richard Honey of Auckland, New Zealand.
Mary loved to cook and paint and was a superb needle artist, creating beautiful sweaters and gorgeous needlepoint pieces. Her work was recognized with a blue ribbon at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair for her needlepoint of the Mills family crest. She was a huge fan of Newfoundland dogs; she and Harry owned three of the large black pups over the years.
Harry predeceased Mary in 2005. In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by her parents, her brother, John Gaynor Walsh Jr., her son in law, Danny Wong, and her infant son, Michael Walsh Judge.
She was the beloved mother of Elaine Gatti Procopio and her husband Joseph of Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Diana Gatti Wong of Rochester, N.Y.; Kathleen Anne Carlton and her husband McDonald of Albany; Mary Cornelia Judge of Feura Bush, N.Y.; Harry Mills Judge Jr. and his wife Cheryl of Albany and Timothy Knower Judge and his wife Paula of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. She also leaves her nephew John Gaynor Walsh 3rd and his wife Deborah; 11 wonderful grandchildren: Joseph, Michael and Peter Procopio, Diane Procopio Todd, Elaine Wong-Infantolino, Anne Marie, Daniel and Michael Wong, Ian McDonald Carlton, Samantha Emily DeCola Judge and Allison Erin DeCola Judge; and eight great-grandchildren: Mary and Wilson Todd, Emma, Lydia and Joseph Procopio, Daniel Wong and Jade Wong-Infantolino and Elizabeth Grace Carlton.
Services were held at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic church in Albany. Interment was in St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands, N.Y.
Those wishing to remember Mary in a special way may send a contribution to the MVCPC Inc. aka Camp Jabberwocky, P.O. Box 1357, Vineyard Haven, MA 20568.
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