Judy Greeson

Judy Leonard Greeson, 76, of Chapel Hill passed away on the evening of June 28 at Duke University Hospital, surrounded by her loving family. A memorial service will be held Saturday, July 12 at 10:30 a.m. at University United Methodist Church, 150 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill.

Judy and her twin brother Jimmy were the first children of Catherine Sloop Leonard, a public school teacher, and James Ray Leonard, a local entrepreneur and veteran of the Army Corps of Engineers WWII advance across Europe. They grew up with their siblings on the family’s working farm in the unincorporated town of Welcome, Davidson County, NC.

Coming from a family where education was valued and encouraged, Judy graduated at the top of her class at North Davidson High School and studied at UNC-Greensboro as a Reynolds Scholar. She began her studies as an English major, with an interest in journalism, but her summer newspaper job assignments to cover the “women’s beat” of fashion and society didn’t interest her. Pursuing her love of chemistry, Judy changed her major to nutrition and food science, becoming a registered dietician and gaining funded admission to graduate study.

Her path changed when she met the love of her life, Bill Greeson, who was a TA for a summer math course she took at NC State. She married Bill after her graduation in 1971. They settled in Raleigh and Judy worked for the state extension service doing home visits for at-risk rural perinatal women.

When Judy and Bill welcomed daughters Jennifer and Jill, they moved to the Matthews-Mint Hill suburb of Charlotte, where Bill went to work for Duke Power Corporation in their new IT division, and Judy took on the job of primary homemaker and caregiver. Together, they made what Judy described to her daughters as a mindful, cooperative agreement to balance care of the children and provision for the family—not based upon ideas about “proper” roles for women or men, who they saw as equal in aptitudes and possibilities.

Judy trained her gifts on growing and nurturing in this new role in her young life. She planted numerous fruit trees and a huge vegetable garden on their quarter-acre subdivision lot. She made almost all of the girls’ clothes, including Easter dresses and Halloween costumes. She embarked on fiercely raising her daughters to be able to benefit from all available opportunities. Their home was a hotbed of early childhood education, with books, art materials, and creatively curated opportunities for imaginative play.

As her daughters grew, she sought out every enrichment opportunity for them, and for the better part of two decades she took on all the volunteer roles on which communities depend—Girl Scout leader, cookie mom, band booster president, and many more. She brought her nutritionist training to school classes and organization meetings with “fruit and vegetable parties,” where she enticed children to sample and enjoy produce that they may not have encountered before.

In her active direction of her daughters’ education, Judy found a new talent and love as she taught her children to read. The day that her elder daughter started kindergarten and her younger daughter started preschool, she started her new job as a kindergarten teacher in the preschool of the family’s church, Philadelphia Presbyterian. Judy stayed in this position for over 25 years, teaching two generations of local students to read.

In 1991, at the age of only 42, Judy suffered a spontaneous coronary artery dissection that left her with a severely damaged heart. Bringing the same energy and attentiveness she brought to every other challenge she faced, she managed her exercise, diet, and healthcare so well that she was able after her initial recovery to enjoy another 35 years of life with her beloved family, as she and Bill welcomed five grandchildren. In 2014 Judy suffered the tragic loss of Bill and she relocated to Chapel Hill, NC.

Every day, Judy demonstrated her faith, her love of living things, and her love of family. She shared her enormous gifts and talents freely as she nurtured the next generations in her family, and she found great happiness in seeing loved ones navigating their lives with strength and joy. Her family cherishes the blessing of her life as she continues to live within them.

Judy Greeson is survived by her loved siblings, brothers Jim Leonard of New Holland, PA, and Ted Leonard of Wirtz, VA, and sister Beth Edwards of Indian Trail, NC; by her beloved daughters Jennifer (Dade Van Der Werf) of Charlottesville, VA, and Jill of Chapel Hill; and by her cherished grandchildren Sevele and William Van Der Werf, and Madeleine, Constance, and Minerva Greeson Shoffner. She was predeceased by her parents, and by her beloved husband Roy William Greeson, Jr.

To honor Judy, take joy in your loved ones. Go for a walk outside and marvel in the beauty of God’s creation.