Doreen Judge - Obituary

oreen Mason Judge died of complications related to Alzheimer’s disease Tuesday, December 31, 2013 at Hospice of the Chesapeake’s Mandrin House in Harwood. She was 88. Doreen was born April 25, 1925 in England. Her Welsh father was a coal miner who brought his family to the small mining village of Moorends in South Yorkshire, where she grew up. During World War II, Doreen joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) attached to the Royal Artillery. She was just 18 at the time, and often said that she chose the ATS because she liked their uniforms best. It was while serving in the ATS that she met her future husband Donald Judge, an American serviceman. They married in Moorends. After the war ended, she was among the initial wave of British war brides to arrive in the U.S. aboard the Queen Mary in 1946, along with her infant daughter. Her husband’s hometown of Elmira, N.Y. welcomed their first British war bride with great fanfare. When Donald resumed his military service, she and her family lived overseas in Germany, Japan and England. She immersed herself into the local culture wherever she lived. In Japan, she earned a professorship in floral arrangement and took cooking classes from the Benedictine Sisters of Peking. In England, collecting and restoring antiques became her passion. She loved history, which led to her conduct tours as a period-costumed guide with Three Centuries Tours in Annapolis for 15 years. Doreen liked cooking, gardening, restoring antique furniture, playing competitive bridge, sewing, knitting, living like a local in a foreign country, and traveling. But she didn’t like camping or Florida. She was devoted to her family of four daughters, generous in sharing her talents, always quick to smile and had a sly sense of humor. “Don’t bleed on the rug!” was her humorous admonition whenever her children had a minor injury. And if asked to identify an unknown ingredient in a meal, her answer was often “pizen” (poison)! Surviving are her husband of 69 years, Donald Judge; daughters Annette (Michael) Patnode of Millersville; Kathleen (David Blacklock) Nemaric of Fernandina Beach, Fla.; Julie Anne (Anthony) Pagnotta of Upper Montclair, N.J.; sister Frances Mason (Jack) Stephenson of Moorends, Yorkshire, England; 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Frances William John and Hilda (Milton) Mason, and her daughter Janet Howard. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 25 at 3PM at the George P. Kalas Funeral Home, 2973 Solomons Island Rd., Edgewater. Interment is private. In lieu of flowers, donations in her name are recommended to Hospice of the Chesapeake, 90 Ritchie Hwy., Pasadena, MD 21122 or the Alzheimer's Association, 1850 York Road, Suite D, Timonium, MD 21093. You can access both of these organizations using the Memorial Donation links in the left column of this page. An online guestbook is available by clicking the 'sign guestbook' link above.