Judith E. Williams

On October 3rd, 2025, Judith E. Williams of Boulder passed on to be with her Lord and Maker, Jesus. Judy passed peacefully in her sleep with no doubts. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and a highly respected first-grade teacher.

Judy was born in Boulder to Ann and Robert Estey on April 24, 1939. She was a true Boulder native who remembered when there were only two traffic lights in town. She attended Whittier Elementary (where she would later teach), Washington Elementary, Casey Junior High, and Boulder High, graduating in 1956.

At Boulder High, she was a band and orchestra member, yearbook editor, junior prom queen, junior class officer, homecoming queen attendant, and was elected Miss Merry Christmas in her senior year. As a junior, she met Doug Williams, who, seven years later, would become her husband for 64 wonderful years. An excellent student, Judy received both Regents and Boettcher scholarships to college.

Judy attended the University of Colorado, graduating in 1960 with a BA degree in Education. She then went on to teach first grade for many years, first in Daly City, California, then in Longmont, and then in Boulder for most of her career. In Boulder, she taught at Whittier Elementary, where she had attended kindergarten. Between the two years in Daly City, she married her high school sweetheart, Doug, on August 26, 1961, at the First Presbyterian Church in Boulder, where she had been a member since childhood.

Marriage and jobs took Judy and Doug back to the Bay Area: Judy for her second year in Daly City, and Doug to teach and coach at Sequoia High School in Redwood City. Doug's job change took them to Longmont, where eventually their first child, Jacqui, was born. They then spent a year in Maryland, followed by a return to Boulder, where their son Scott was born.

Judy was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her husband, Doug Williams, sister Janice, children Jacqui and Scott, five wonderful grandchildren, Talina, Vanessa, Jesse, Malena, and Tegryn, and three amazing great-grandchildren, Lily, Ava, and Taysen.

Her life was filled by faith, family, friends, and first-graders. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Breakthrough T1D (www2.breakthroughT1D.org; formerly JDRF) and/or Grace Commons Church (www.gracecommons.org; formerly First Presbyterian).

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 26th, at 1:00 PM at Grace Commons Church in Boulder (1820 15th St, Boulder, CO 80302).