Judith (Simkins) Wilkinson

Judith Simkins Wilkinson died peacefully at the age of 92 in Newton, MA near family on May 15, 2024. We remember her as a kind and resilient woman with an adventurous and independent spirit.

Judy began her life as Judith Anne Simkins on Nov. 6, 1931, in Fort Lewis, WA, daughter of Tattnall and Margaret Simkins. Her father’s army career took the family, including her older siblings Dan, Peggy, and Sally east across the country. Somewhere along the way, perhaps in Ann Arbor, Michigan where Judy reached first grade, or later in Jacksonville, FL, where the family eventually settled, Judy developed a lifelong love for reading, especially science fiction and fantasy books including the Wizard of Oz series. She took that love to Florida State University, graduating with a BA in English in 1954.

Shortly after she finished her education, Judy traveled to a land of Oz of her own, New York City, and while working as an employee of the publishing company Harcourt Brace, she found magic in a handsome young lawyer named Peter Wilkinson. He soon proposed with a single yellow rose, and the couple married on April 26, 1957. After living together in Brooklyn, where Mrs. Wilkinson taught first grade and where she was asked to banish her heavy southern accent because her students were learning, amongst other things, to spell her last name with the letter “dubbaya,” the Wilkinsons moved to Fairfield, CT in 1960, Peter’s childhood home town.

In Fairfield, the couple soon acquired what Judy liked to call her “first child,” Skippy, the first of seven dogs and three cats that Judy mothered, as with all her children, if not always perfectly, always with unconditional love. Her boys remember her calming voice when she sang us to sleep. Her compassion was evident not only in raising a family, but also in serving her community through volunteer positions at the Junior League, the Mill River Wetland Committee, the Bridgeport Ladies Charitable Society, and P.E.O, among others. She employed her love for nature and animals by volunteering as a bird bander at the Connecticut Audubon Birdcraft Museum, and she enriched her spiritual life at the United Congregational Church of Bridgeport where she taught Sunday School, served as a Deacon, volunteered at the food pantry, and lent her drawing talents to the crafting of a Christmas card one year. This led her to create Christmas cards for her own use over the decades, drawing various family pets celebrating the holidays. Her artistic talent also found expression in painting, primarily watercolors, with her works currently decorating the walls of homes of family and friends.

Her family can’t forget her delicious intuitive cooking, many of the recipes of which she has now taken with her, but of which several survive such as the chocolate sauce she made every Christmas. (And which is printed at the bottom of this piece for your enjoyment.)

In March of 2011, her husband Peter passed away after a long illness, but Judy continued to care for her family and those around her. She began to utilize her knitting skills to craft blankets that she donated to those in need, warming strangers and family alike. And she also continued to pursue her other passions of playing cards (soundly beating her sons), doing puzzles, and pulling out obscure words to complete crosswords.

Judy eventually moved a few blocks away from her beloved Fairfield home on Sturges Road to the Sturges Ridge assisted living facility in 2021, and then in August 2023 to the Adelaide of Newton, MA facility, so she could be closer to family. Although her short-term memories became fleeting, she found great comfort in her past memories, which remained strong; her face always lighting up when viewing photographs of friends and family, or thumbing through familiar books, such as her beloved Oz books. Her love for animals continued and her face lit up with childlike wonder at the sight of stuffed toy animals like her Ferdinand the Bull doll, that was almost as old as her, to newer acquisitions like a mechanical dog that just appeared in her room one day and made her smile every time it barked. The joy these toys gave to her made such items a go-to gift, and so she found herself happily surrounded by a menagerie of various animals. As several grandchildren can verify, as of Christmas 2023, her collection numbered at 22.

Judy touched the lives of countless friends who loved her kind and joyful spirit. Her fellow bird banders, church goers, committee members, and neighbors all felt her deep commitment to making the world better. Her friends from Connecticut, her days in New York, and some from all the way back to Jacksonville, Florida, knew her enduring dedication to keeping strong connections. Judy is survived by family she cherished, including her dear friend and sister, Sally Taylor; her three sons Peter, Dan, and David and their spouses Francis, Alonso, and Monika; her ten grandchildren (Amy, Emily, Timothy, Tiffany, Brandy, Brandon, CJ, John, Luke, and Paul); her two great-grandchildren (Connor and Skylar); and her sixteen nieces and nephews. She will be missed very very much, but her spirit endures in Peter, Dan, and David and their families.

Judy’s Chocolate Sauce Recipe

2 Squares = 2 Ounces unsweetened baking chocolate

2 tbsp butter

2/3 cup boiling water

2 cups sugar

4 tbsp corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

a few grains of salt

Melt chocolate and butter on low heat.

Slowly pour in boiling water and stir.

Add sugar and corn syrup.

Raise heat and boil for 5 mins only.

Let cool and add vanilla and salt.

All are welcome to attend a visitation at Spear-Miller Funeral Home on June 9, 2024, from 2:00-4:00 PM. The funeral will be held at First Church in Fairfield, CT on June 10, 2024, at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her memory to Connecticut Audubon Birdcraft Museum, Bridgeport Ladies Charitable Society, or the Fairfield Museum and History Center.