The family of Judith Holland Borden is saddened but honored to announce her passing, at the age of eighty-two, on January 2, 2024. Judy was born to Iris and Gilbert Holland in New London, CT, where she was later crowned “Miss Ocean Beach”, her only brush with beauty contest fame. The family moved to Springfield, MA and Judy attended high school at Classical High. She briefly played on the basketball team but generally had little interest in sports. Judy attended Smith College. While there, she met a young, eager David Borden in law school at Harvard. After a brief courtship, Judy promptly took off for California – a semester at Stanford and then travel throughout the West Coast. David was head-over-heels heartbroken and begged her to return and get married. She thought about it, let him stew for a bit while enjoying herself in the Pacific Northwest, then returned and accepted his proposal. Judy never looked back-they married in 1963 and had fifty-three loving years together until David passed in 2016. They were the happiest married couple you could ever meet, an adorable duo walking hand in hand. Judy and David moved to West Hartford early in their marriage and started a family. Doug, Tom and Katherine arrived evenly spaced two years apart between 1966 and 1970. Judy was always passionate about learning. She spoke fluent Spanish and first worked as a Spanish teacher at Sedgwick Jr. High. She then served as the director of the Caminemos Adult Learning Center, an English-as-a-Second-Language center on Albany Avenue in Hartford. It’s the first job her young children remember Mom working at and she poured herself into it. She remained in contact with former students, staff, and teachers from Caminemos for her entire life. Judy then ran the Hartford Adult Learning Center, which helped new immigrants to learn the skills they’d need to successfully settle in the United States. Finally, Judy decided to go back to school, got her MBA at UConn, and then worked at Connecticut General Insurance which then became CIGNA. She worked there until she retired. After retiring, Judy loved spending time with her many close friends, playing and mostly winning Scrabble, reading voraciously, traveling with David, and spoiling her grandchildren. She never turned down an invitation to lunch or the theater, or to take a chatty walk around the Farmington Reservoir. Judy was absolutely fearless. Not in the traditional thrill-seeking way, of course. Put her at the top of a ski hill or in a white water raft and she was not interested-no how, no way. She wasn’t jumping out of airplanes. But parachute her into any social situation or collection of strangers in any city, town, neighborhood, or foreign country and she was a world champion. “Hello, I’m Judy Borden! What’s your name?” was her middle name. Judy firmly believed in putting your money where your mouth is when it came to politics, social work, community service and pretty much anything else involved with being a human on the planet Earth. Judy talked the talk and walked the walk. As such, she never let an inner thought go unspoken, much to the horror of her young children. And then later much to her grown children’s amusement and pride. Judy preferred not to cook. Ever. From a very young age, each child had a night they had to cook – Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. David grilled meat and baked potatoes on Thursday and Saturdays. Friday was Kentucky Fried Chicken or Wendy’s Hamburgers. Sunday was leftovers. Tom became a good cook, Doug a serviceable one, and Kath took after her mom. When Judy and David became empty nesters, David took cooking lessons and made all the meals. Judy loved entertaining. For parties, she had two meals in her repertoire. First was Sweet & Sour Chicken which consisted of chicken legs swimming in a sauce of Thousand Island dressing, orange marmalade and Lipton Onion Soup mix, baked for an hour at 350 degrees. She soon added BBQ Beef. This was actually beef tongue cooked in a marinade of red vinegar salad dressing and brown sugar, but Judy preferred not to mention the tongue part to guests. Or her family. Later in life, she bought prepared foods for all her parties and dinners. When guests would comment “Judy, this [fill in the blank] is delicious,” she would simply smile and reply “Isn’t it?” Judy volunteered throughout her life at the Greater Hartford League of Women Voters. She canvassed door-to-door for the Democratic Party. She cold-called unregistered voters. She regularly talked with the West Hartford Chief of Police and never hesitated to walk into the Mayor’s office with a big smile on her face and a number of questions or comments. Judy was the first feminist her kids ever met. Judy had a world-class sweet tooth. Her grandchildren were taught at a very early age that eating dinner “Granny Style” means dessert first, then dinner if you still have room. She also taught them that when going out to dinner, on your way into the restaurant fill your left pocket with mints from the host/hostess stand and then on the way out, fill the right pocket. Judy proudly served as President of the Human Rights Commission of West Hartford, and then as a board member. She also served on the Connecticut Client Security Fund Committee, ably filling David’s spot after he passed away in 2016. Judy was an avid walker. She regularly walked from her home in West Hartford straight down Park Avenue into downtown Hartford and back, waving hello and greeting anyone and everyone who caught her eye. Judy’s favorite ice cream was pistachio; David’s was mint chocolate chip. They often had a half-gallon of each in the freezer. Judy didn’t like mint chocolate chip ice cream, but she did like chocolate chips. So she would take David’s mint chocolate chip ice cream and a grapefruit spoon, and surgically excise each chip from the container, top to bottom, leaving him with 3/4 of a half-gallon of mint chipless ice cream. Judy liked bold colors, striped socks, and wallpaper on ceilings. She had a great eye for eclectic, vivacious art and filled the house with her finds. She never took “no” for an answer. She believed in the fundamental goodness of human beings and treated every person that way. When confronted with someone who in any way violated that faith, or even slighted it with an off-color joke, Judy never hesitated to call them out, kindly but firmly. In her life’s final home stretch, Judy was beset with Alzheimer’s Disease, slowly robbing her of one of her most treasured possessions, her mind. But it never stole her spirit. And it gifted her with another soulmate in life, her caregiver Denise Northup. They were inseparable for the last four years of Judy’s life. She loved Denise and trusted her completely, even when the disease made it difficult for Judy to trust anything or anyone new. Early on, after getting some kind of tough news, she turned to Denise and declared, “I’ve never been depressed a day in my life and I’m not going to start now.” And she never did. Judith H. Borden filled one pocket with mints on the way in and the other on the way out. She is survived by her: younger brother, Donald Holland; sons Doug and Tom; daughter Katherine; daughter-in-law Amy Hoffmann; son-in-law Bruce Perkins; grandchildren Brooks, Mason, Sebastian, Poppy and Maisy; and countless people she touched in her life. We already miss her dearly. But Judy was never much for moping so rather than mourn we choose to tell funny Mom/Judy/Grandma/Granny stories instead. There is an endless supply. This world is a little less kind and a little less bright without Judy Borden. But Mom would laugh in the face of that notion and gently remind us that it doesn’t have to be. A private memorial and burial will be held by her family. In lieu of flowers, family, friends and inspired readers are invited to make a donation in Judy’s name to the Greater Hartford League of Women Voters, at www.lwvct.org. Even better, in lieu of donations, we invite you to introduce yourself to a complete stranger, laugh a little too loud, talk the talk and walk the walk, don’t take no for an answer, and smile at everyone who catches your eye.