December 27, 1946 – August 18, 2025

Judy was always up for an adventure and ready to try something new. From her small-town roots in west Texas, she moved to northern Virginia after high school, where she worked in a law office for several years. From that foundation she moved to a job across the Potomac River to Washington, D.C., where she worked as staff for several Congressmen and notably for the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. In that role she had the opportunity to travel around the world with Congressional delegations, with destinations like London, Paris and Tokyo. She left that job when she was appointed to a position in President Carter’s administration, and she later served President Reagan during his first year in office.
She met Rich Tremaine on a blind date in 1979, they married in 1980, and after several winter visits to Steamboat Springs they decided to leave their successful east-coast professional lives for an adventure in the Rocky Mountains. In 1988 they visited Steamboat looking for a small vacation home; then decided to just uproot and move, which they did a couple of months later. Their son, Colby Townsend, was certain that they had taken leave of their senses … until he spent a summer working at the Home Ranch in Clark, and he too fell under the spell of the mountains.
Colby and his wife Michelle moved to Routt County, started a business, and provided two grandchildren – Noah and Amber – who spent a lot of time with Judy in their early years. Judy loved her time with the children.
Judy took advantage of most of the opportunities that the mountains offer during her life here, and took special pride in her community service on the City Planning Commission, the Police Station Advisory Commission, and with the local Democratic Party. In 2018, she began fighting a cancer battle that she was able to win; unfortunately, some secondary impacts from that battle emerged and ended her life suddenly and unexpectedly.
There is no ‘service’ or ‘celebration of life’ planned at this time.