Obituary: Judy Wizowaty, 1930-2020 

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• Courtesy Photo
• Judy Wizowaty

Judy Wizowaty, née Vaughan, died peacefully in her sleep on September 3, 2020, after 90 years of a rich and full life. Endlessly curious and a true intellectual, in her last afternoon she read aloud her most recent lecture for the Friends in Council to her daughter, enthusiastically explaining details of theology and iconography.

Judy was born on January 12, 1930, in Memphis, Tenn., and grew up in Cambridge, Mass. At 16, she entered Wellesley College, where she majored in philosophy and excelled at playing bridge; her first job was as bridge editor of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. She married Jerry Wizowaty in 1952 and moved to New York City, where she worked for the Children’s Book Council. Soon they moved to Cincinnati, and Judy found work at the Cincinnati Enquirer and had her first two children, Suzi and Eric. Jerry’s work then took them to Dallas (where their third child, Gigi, was born), then Houston, Lausanne, Paris, Madrid and eventually back to Houston.

While in Europe, Judy developed a passion for art and a broad and deep knowledge, which she used to create original and imaginative art lectures at St. John’s School in Houston. When her youngest graduated from high school, Judy entered a PhD program in art history at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Wizowaty’s dissertation on the Adam and Eve iconography on sculptured stones in Anglo-Saxon England ran more than 900 pages in two volumes.

Though Judy enjoyed her time in Austin, especially friends and tennis, she and Jerry moved to Vermont in 2004 because of the weather and the politics. She enjoyed her view of Lake Champlain every day. All her life, Judy loved good food, white wine, stimulating conversation with dear friends and especially music. She played the piano until age 85, favoring Bach, Mozart and Shostakovich, and she was a devoted fan of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival.

She was warm and affectionate and interested in other people. But most of all, she loved learning. She was an excellent writer and spent long hours reading and researching.

Judy leaves behind her two daughters, Suzi (spouse Joan Robinson) in Shelburne and Gigi (spouse Charlie Clements), and two grandchildren, Eric and Jesse, in California. She was predeceased by her son in 1975 and her husband in 2005. A celebration of her life will take place sometime in the future. In lieu of flowers, contributions are invited to the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival or Constellations Chamber Concerts in Washington, D.C.