Dear Judy,
Please go find: Paul, Ralph & Joanne, Mick & Nelda and have a Guam reunion! We had so many unforgettable times both on island and after we came stateside. So many memories, so much love.

My Dearest Judy: 
   When I think of you, I think of my beautiful big sister--so smart, so competent, so talented and so determined. I have always been so proud of you. You and John have raised wonderful daughters, who, in turn, are sharing your legacy of values with their children. Each is a testimony to you.
   You and I traveled 64 years of life together. You were in the lead, showing me the importance of experiencing all you could--traveling, learning and bringing back a world perspective to share. You always challenged me to think globally. You experienced great wonders but always appreciated the simplest gifts and the simplest life the most.
   I cherished your great sense of humor and wonderful stories. I can see you trying to keep a "straight face" before a punch-line and hear your effervescent laughter when all was told. You recognized serious issues but preferred to make light of the human condition.
   You and I are part of a four-some--four sisters. We are as different as the compass directions but so similar in the common denominators. We are intrinsically bound to each other, now and always. Nothing can separate us.
   Now you travel the universe but you are not so far that I will not remember all that you are and travel with you in my mind and heart. I love you very much and will miss you while we are separated.
   Love, Shirley

We had so many wonderful times together. Thank you for being part of my life.

Dear Eaken sisters: I know and love three of you - and I know that I would have loved Ms. Judy as well. All of you and your mother lived blest lives in so many ways that are important...and surely each of you completes the rest of you, even when absent. My tears and love to each of you in your loss, and I celebrate her life with you now. God bless you, each one, and your families...you are very special folks!

How very sad we were to hear Judy had passed away. We think of you often and the fun times we had on Guam 45years ago. The two little girls who used to visit our house across the road and our Christmas lunch we shared with you all. What a wonderful journey you both had in life, a truely special person and couple. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

So sad to hear of her passing. Sorry for your loss, John, Mari, Elizabeth, and all the family. I pray you take comfort in your memories in your family's incredible life together, and find peace in knowing how blessed she was to have such a great family. Soooo glad you were able to spend time together shortly before she passed away. That was a comfort to her, and to you for sure. Thinking of the happy memories when I was a kid on Guam in the early 70's, and our family intertwined with yours. I think my Mom and Dad (Mick and Nelda) are welcoming her to heaven and inviting them to the best parties!

My heart took a skip a few days ago when I learned of Judy's passing. My good, dear friends, John and Judy. I have so many memories. It goes back over 40 years when we arrived on Guam, to find, very quickly, our "Guam family." How fortunate we were to meet the Bouchers, the darling Mari and Elizabeth, and their special Mom and Dad. After we left, it was due to Judy's friendship that we kept in touch (and this was pre-email days). We had so many special times (remember John? the helicopter ride over Guam?), remember your visiting us in England? How very kind of you both to welcome my new husband Leroy, where we had an amazing trip to the BVI. I can't count all the memories. Just tonight I made Caesar Salad, and I had to slow down because it was Judy who showed me the "right" way to tear the lettuce. I visited Judy in Florida shortly after her cancer treatments started. Her strength amazed me. It was because she totally adored and loved John and her daughters, which kept her going all these years. I'll probably be back to this tribute page because I can't say enough about this amazing lady and all the memories! Love, Marigail

Dear Jon and loved ones.....Judy was an important part of one of my most favorite time of my life...our time at UofM....from her I learned dedication, determination, as well as how to be a true friend.....over the years....our group from Eaton Hall has dwindled and drifted away from each other....Jon, you and Judy had a life filled with wonderful adventures that took you all over the world!....and even through Judy's many health battles, she seemed to squeeze every 'positive' out of a situation.....thank you for the times you helped bring the EH gang together.....Ginny & Phil

We met Judy and John shortly after moving next door to them on Deep Passage Lane 4 years ago. We had a few opportunities to get together and get to know each other. Judy was an amazing person, talented, creative, awe inspiring in the way she tackled her disease. I feel blessed to have known her and as I read these tributes, I get a clearer picture of the wonderful woman, wife, mother, grandmother, friend she was to so many. Our condolences to John, their daughters and families.
Marcia and Clare

Dear Mimi,
You were the best grandmother I ever had. I loved your hugs and kisses. I loved to be your snuggle bear, play Phase 10 with you, laugh with you, and travel with you. I remember the last time I saw you. I know I will see you again in heaven one day.
Love, Christopher

Dear Mimi,
I love you more than you can ever imagine! You inspire me everyday to be joyful, creative, loving, and many more things. Thank you so much for buying me jewelry-making tools and teaching me how to be as amazing as you are at making jewelry! Also thank you for teaching me so much about drawing. You have some really good patience! Some day I hope to be the great artist that you are. You are so strong and an amazing cancer fighter. I know you are in heaven, and I will see you there soon!
Love,
Lilly Cleveland

Dear Mimi,
I will always love you! Thank you for showing me how to create beautiful buildings and giving me tips along the way. Thank you for teaching us all wonderful skills and for taking us on trips around the world. Thank you for being such a wonderful wife to Poppy and a wonderful mother to Aunt E and my mother Mari. Most of all, thank you for being a wonderful grandmother.
Love,
John Boucher Cleveland

Dear Mimi,
I will never forget your sweet smile, your great teachings, and how you influenced me and all your grandchildren. (Katherine Law age 10 and 1/2, Christopher Law age 9, Lilly Cleveland age 12, and John Cleveland age 14) I love that you taught me how to make jewelry because I will now be able to make wonderful things! Even though you had cancer you would never let that get you down, and you would always try to find ways to fight it. Mimi, the greatest memory that I will never forget about you is how you were a fighter.
Love,
Katherine Law

It is nearly 20 years ago that Judy and John welcomed us as their new neighbors in Deep Passage Lane. They generously invited us to their home and included us to their family Thanksgiving dinner. We could feel how much she was loved by John, her daughters and later also by her sons-in-law and her grandchildren.

Judy was always so interested in hearing news about our home in Germany. We remember her thinking about advice on the design of our new house and when she finally visited us in Munich with John, Polly and Piero from Italy she could see that we had realized one of her ideas.

Each time we came to Florida we did something together and enjoyed the company of each other. When we come back now there will be an empty space.

We miss you, Judy.

Manfred and Marlies

We met Judy & John in Barranquilla, Colombia in 1986 and became great friends and companions on & off the golf course. We immediately realized what a beautiful & talented & fun-loving lady Judy was. She was easy to laugh even after she became an unlucky victim of the "big C". And what an adventurer she was and never gave up fighting the affliction but taking every chance to see more of the world for 26 years. Judy was and is one of the most memorable and admirable individuals we have ever had the privilege to know and share fun & laughs with. We will never forget her and will miss her forever.

How we laughed. More than her awe inspiring talents, I'll remember all our laughter - the ghastly junk dyed shell thing we gifted back & forth, our horrible golf with Bob's blue smoke curses, and the jokes through all those years....We should laugh in memory of Judy, the joy would be a fitting tribute to her and her amazing love of life.

John and Judy, world travelers, life travelers, you warmed the hearts of all of us with whom you crossed paths.

Dear Mom,
First of all, I want to say how much I love you. I have always appreciated how you have encouraged and supported me throughout my childhood and as I have pursued my goals as an adult. When I think about you, some of these words come to mind. ENCOURAGEMENT… When I had to wear a back brace in high school you reminded me that God only gives you what you can handle.  I have continued to remember this whenever I have faced a challenge.  SUPPORTIVE… When I told you I found out I was #2 in my high school graduation class you went to the administration to ensure that I was awarded the honor I had earned, High School Salutatorian! GOOD ADVICE… You always gave me good advice, telling me to go to whatever college I wanted to attend and to major in whatever I wanted. I think other people thought my parents were crazy to pay for me to attend Vanderbilt University when I was studying to become a teacher, but I am forever grateful that you and dad gave me that opportunity. CREATIVE IDEAS… When I told you that I had been asked to attend Cambridge University, but it would mean that I’d have to graduate a semester late, it was you who gave me the idea to ask the administration if I could student teach through their university instead. That led to me being the first Peabody student to student teach in England, and I believe that program still exists today! You gave me SELF CONFIDENCE in my abilities. I always believed I could achieve anything I wanted. While I was completing me Doctorate in Education I remember telling my friends that achieving this goal had nothing to do with being smart (since you never did tell me my IQ score!), it had to do with being determined and persistent!  
I attribute my love of READING, EATING, and TRAVELING to you. READING… I remember you always reading to Mari and me before we’d go to bed at night. My favorite stories as a child came from a book that you had read as a child, Under the Magic Umbrella.  Every Christmas Eve I loved having you tuck us into bed and hearing you tell us from memory the story, The Night Before Christmas. When I went to college my favorite class was Children’s Literature, and I was always so proud to tell people that my mom had been a children’s librarian. EATING… When it came to food, you loved to eat. We definitely had some family favorites, mine being spaghetti a la vongole. Even though you didn’t love to cook, since you loved to eat, you were always trying new recipes. In one week we might have eaten Southern fried chicken, Indian curry with homemade chutney, Japanese sushi, Italian gnocchi, Colombian ajiaco, German sauerbraten, or Australian pavlova. One of my funniest memories was the time you decided to make homemade pasta, and we had it stringing along all of our dining room chairs to dry. I think that might have been the only time we used the pasta maker! TRAVELING… Not only was I exposed to a variety of foods from other countries, but I was able to experience other countries first hand as well. I love telling people that I had traveled to 6 of the 7 continents by the time I was 15 years old. Some of my fondest childhood memories are the experiences we shared as we traveled around the world together as a family. What amazing adventures we have had…whether it was snow skiing in New Zealand, going on safari in Kenya, cruising through the Greek Islands, hiking Huayna Picchu in Peru, or swimming with dolphins in the Florida Keys… we had a great time doing it together. I know you were wondering if Mari and I would ever get married and start a family of our own, since we still loved traveling with you and Dad even into our 30’s! I feel so blessed to have had all of opportunities you and Dad provided for us. I truly believe you gave us amazing educational experiences that I continue to cherish today.
I hope that I will be able to give Katherine and Christopher the amazing memories and experiences you gave me while I was growing up. 
I love you very much! Elizabeth

Dear Mom,
Thank you for all that you have done for me, given me, sacrificed for me. Thank you for the times that you put my needs and wants above your own. Now that I am a Mom, I am overwhelmed by the understanding of how much you love me and how much you desire for me. Thank you for teaching me how to be a Mom by loving me so much, by always believing in me and by teaching me to believe in myself and my potential to do anything I set my mind to. I grew up believing that I was smart and capable of success, unafraid to tackle any challenge, because that’s how you taught me to see myself. What an incredible legacy you gave me! Legacy in our home did not mean entrance into a sorority, but entrance into the possibilities of life! You taught me to have deeper interests and desires for my future; as Dad would say, you taught us to “keep our priorities straight!” 
Mom, your gifts and talents are many, and I feel so blessed to have been influenced by them.  You have an incredible gift of seeing beauty… whether it is the intricate beauty in the tiniest glow worm cave in New Zealand, the majestic beauty of the world’s largest monolith in Australia, the architectural beauty of a temple in the jungles of Honduras … the hills of Greece, or the artistic beauty found in galleries the world over, you taught us to see it, and you gave us a thirst to seek it. You have an incredible hunger for knowledge which also leads to an incredible spirit of adventure… you want to experience everything, to learn about everything, to soak up all you can—it has kept you young and vibrant and interesting and has led you to give our family life experiences that others only dream of. You have given both Elizabeth and me those gifts…it’s wonderful to watch Elizabeth, the intrepid adventurer, follow in your world traveling footsteps, and I can remember standing in a gallery in the Louvre, excitedly explaining to a friend the marvelous details of a painting that I had just studied in an art class only to turn and find a dozen tourists surrounding us, hanging on my every word. You have given us a passion for knowledge that we desire to share with others…this is the foundation of my professional career and Elizabeth’s.
Mom, you also have the gift of seeing possibilities and solving problems… God gave you an incredible mind that can analyze things and immediately see new and better options… whether it is the layout of a room, the design of a piece of furniture or jewelry, or the career opportunities available. I smile as I think of all of the articles you’ve sent me over the years…showing me possibilities of how to apply my own gifts... you have always desired the best for me.  I know that you have influenced me to see the potential and possibilities in others, and this is one of my passionate pursuits: to help others see the gifts that God has given them and find the joy that comes from using them.  I look forward to finding the gifts that John and Lilly have been blessed with and giving them that same belief in themselves that you gave me. I want them to see beauty, seek knowledge and adventure, and see possibilities, just as you always have. 
Mom, perhaps the greatest gift you have shared with me is how to be a faithful wife, mother and friend. Through your example and your words as you praised many of Dad’s attributes, I learned the important qualities to seek in a husband and a father for my children.  I learned that you could disagree and still love one another. You and Dad chose to solve problems, work through challenges together and always put our family first. What an incredible witness you have been to the power of faithfulness and covenant-keeping in the midst of a society that teaches us to always seek pleasure and avoid pain. You’ve taught us tenacity…tenacity in holding onto life and to those you hold most dear. That tenacity also makes you a faithful friend…as you can see in the letters from your friends around the world… you are appreciated and loved. The words that echoed for me included faithful, true, honest, wonderful experiences and laughter. Laughter… as a child, I remember trying to do or say things that would make you smile and laugh, because I loved to hear your laugh. I still do. It took my breath away when Lilly told me what she loves about Mimi... “when she smiles, I see a rainbow smiling back at me”. ..I can relate to those words. Thank you for a lifetime of beautiful rainbows…rich with possibilities. My desire was that this gift would remind you of how much you are loved and make you smile…I love you, Mom. --Mari
(written to accompany Mom's 70th Birthday gift--November 2009)