10/19/1931 – 1/9/2025
Lawrence, KS
Judith Lawrence Hall Young passed away at her home in Lawrence, Kansas, on Thursday, January 9, 2025, with family at her side.
Judith was born October 19, 1931, in Salina, Kansas to L.H.W. (“Jack”) Hall and Lawrence Lucile Baber Hall. When she was in the fourth grade, she moved with her parents to Dodge City, Kansas, where her father opened Hall’s Firestone store. Judith attended Central Elementary School, Dodge City Junior High, and graduated from Dodge City Senior High in 1949. She earned an Associate degree from Dodge City Junior College, a Bachelor of Arts in English from St. Mary of the Plains College, and a Master of Science in Education from Kansas State University, where she was initiated into Phi Delta Kappa, a professional fraternity for excellence in education.
She married Donald Philip Young, Jr. of Dodge City on November 7, 1952, and spent the first years of her marriage in Casablanca, Morocco, where Lieutenant Donald Young was stationed at Port Lyautey naval base. Upon their return to Dodge City, Judith cared for her growing family while returning to school to earn her college degrees.
She was a lifelong educator, beginning in 1951, when she traveled to Brazil to teach English at União Cultural Brasil Estados Unidos. She taught English and History in the Dodge City public school system for over twenty-five years, and as an adjunct teacher of adult education classes for Dodge City Community College. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Society, an association of women educators.
She was dedicated to the lives and education of young women as a Girl Scout leader and member of the Tumbleweed Scout Council, where she encouraged self-reliance, taught a love of nature and music, and shepherded countless campouts and activities. She loved teaching young people, whether it was about literature and music, or trees and flowers, or how to build a fire and roast a marshmallow!
She was a member of Job’s Daughters, Bethel 32, rising to the rank of Honored Queen, and then served as an adult sponsor and the Director of Music. She was also a member of the Order of Eastern Star, Bas Bleu, and P.E.O Chapter GA of Dodge City. She was a member of St. Cornelius Episcopal Church, served on the altar guild and was a one of the first women to serve on the vestry in the 1960s.
Judith was a musician and singer who played cello with a quartet as a young woman, played the piano for various organizations, and spent a lifetime as a solo singer for churches. She sang in St. Cornelius Church choir and other choral organizations throughout her life. After her move to Lawrence, she enjoyed being in the Lawrence Music Club, serving a term as its President.
In her retirement, Judith took on many projects including one very close to her heart. She began making “Linus” quilts as a project at St. Cornelius Episcopal Church to be placed in police cars for children in domestic violence situations. She continued making nearly 300 of these beautiful little fleecy quilts and donating them to various charities until her declining health would no longer allow.
Judith was an avid learner and an enthusiastic participant in programs of Elderhostel now called Road Scholar. She traveled all over the United States on Elderhostel programs, that included volunteering at Navajo and Hopi Reservation schools, at archeological digs, and in museums. She also went to Guatemala with Habitat for Humanity to build schools and homes.
Judith acquired a love of genealogy and history from her mother, and she volunteered with Ford County Historical Society and Kansas Heritage Center on various projects, including transcribing oral histories and working as the compiler and editor of the Dodge City and Ford County Pioneer Histories and Stories. In her work on her own family genealogy, she wrote the second edition of The Brown Family History that features the genealogy and history of the Reverend Clark Brown and his wife Tabitha Brown, who crossed the Oregon Trail when she was nearly seventy years old and later founded Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. Judith was a member of the Oregon/California Trail Association, the Santa Fe Trail Association—Fort Dodge Chapter, and the High Plains Natural History Club. She also enjoyed an association with the Magna Charta Society and Daughters of the American Revolution.
Judith was a member of the Dodge City Public Library board and was on the board when the current library building was approved and built. She was associated with the library in some capacity all her life, including as a teenager, when she rode her bicycle around town to collect overdue library books, earning five cents a book for her pin money.
Judith imparted her love of the natural world to her children and was an enthusiastic naturalist and birdwatcher who loved hiking and camping with her children in their beloved Colorado mountains. She loved animals, especially cats, and always supported animal welfare projects. She enjoyed many other hobbies and activities including gardening, needlepointing, spinning, weaving, and furniture refinishing.
She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, her sister Barbara Maricle and brother-in-law Kenneth Maricle, her brother Jack Hall and sister-in-law Teddie Hall, her brother-in-law Fredric Young and sister-in-law Alberta Young.
She is survived by five children: Julia Young (David Waters) of San Francisco, Carolyn Young of Mission, Kansas, William Young of Dallas, Johanna Young of London, England, Sarah Young of Lawrence; two grandchildren Matthew Waters and Katharine Waters (Alexander Garcia) of San Francisco; nieces Sharyn Niermann and Kevin Maricle; nephew Robert Young (Brenda Johnston), niece Elizabeth Young, cousins Diane Summers, and Salli Marinov, and beloved cat Emerson.
Judith was an inspirational and loving mother, a teacher, a friend, and lover of life. She never stopped wondering and learning and contributing to the world around her, and she helped others to do the same.
The family would like to thank the wonderful people from Keep Living at Home, Interim Health Care, and Visting Nurses Hospice, who made it possible for Judith to spend her last years in her own home.
Visitation is scheduled at Swaim Funeral Home in Dodge City, Kansas for Thursday, January 30, from 5:30-7:30 PM. A funeral service will be held at St. Cornelius Episcopal Church in Dodge City, at 10:00 AM on Friday, January 31, with burial at Maple Grove Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Ford County Humane Society, Lawrence Humane Society, St. Cornelius Episcopal Church, or the Louise Broeker Music Scholarship with Lawrence Music Club. Donations may be sent in care of Swaim Funeral Home, 1901 6th Ave., Dodge City, KS 67801.
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