Judith (Judy) Truty

Tue Feb 20, 1940 - Sun Jun 13, 2021

Yep. She was "Judy Truty"

Wife, Mom, Artist, Musician, Crafter, Office Worker, Grandma, Optimist, Prayer Warrior

♭♮♯Judith Ann Truty (nee Pankratz) 1940-2021, of Northbrook, Chicago, Villa Park, and Naperville, IL, Tucson, AZ, and Colorado Springs, CO, beloved wife of Louis J Truty, dearest mother of Chris Truty (Heidi), Mark Truty (Jean), Greg Truty (Kathy), Michael Truty (Eileen), and Laura Gallagher (Jamie), blessed to be the grandmother of 14, and great-grandmother of 7, entered eternal rest Sunday June 13, 2021, called home by her Lord. "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." --Isaiah 41:10

Mom (and Dad) believed in the Catholic doctrine of purgatory. She was humble enough to recognize the likelihood that as a human she'd made plenty of small human mistakes. Our family suggests the best way to honor her rich spiritual life would be to make donations for Catholic masses for the repose of souls, or through prayer itself. Prayers like: “May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace, Amen.” mean a lot. Some people don't believe in all this - that's ok - do it anyway :-)

Our mom lived life in a few phases. She was an only child, and grew up around Chicago and loved to sing with her parents. She worked: she was a first class bookkeeper for a number of small businesses, and a very zippy typist, later a medical transcriptionist. Then, she was a wife and a mom of 5 of us for a long time. After our father retired, she became a crafter for her grandchildren and a servant of her local community and church: she was the glue in her homeowners association for a long time, and she and our dad ran a prayer chain that did a lot of good for a lot of people. Even as she battled cancer, she was always what we in the tech industry now call a "creative". She loved her family most, games and puzzles, making/sewing toys, most desserts, playing music, dancing, singing, and a good polka (really any polka). This is the kind of silly rhyme she'd write for us.

My imperfect mom...

creative - on Easters taught us to rhyme

wrote puzzles, searched for treasures

twisted words and minds so sublime

My imperfect mom...

in so many indescribable ways

splashed bright color in our lives

on most of our days

My imperfect mom...

born in a home the only child

of musicians raucous with song

but otherwise, surprisingly mild

My imperfect mom...

a leaping master of cheer

even then in the 50's

strangers or friends, for conversation, she had no fear

My imperfect mom...

her perfect match met a Lou

these opposites attracted

a Polish Catholic and German Jew

My imperfect mom...

lost her own mom too soon

gone but then arrived Ronnie

she found loving help and continued Polly's tune

My imperfect mom...

once one, wanted a big family

chris, mark, greg, laura, and michael

would you say that was her fantasy? insanity ... calamity?

My imperfect mom...

to volunteer quick with a smile

be scout pine wood or cookies

and her original style

My imperfect mom...

wasn't shy 'bout a messy hug

for husband, child, or grandchild, whatever

liked it close, tight, and snug

My imperfect mom...

cut our hair, didn't buy fancy glasses

played the organ, snuck some smokes

mended clothes with some patches

My imperfect mom...

let us make messes and build stuff with wood

laughed at dad's horrendous jokes

always found the bright side and understood

My imperfect mom...

you're starting to get the picture

we thought we saw all her faults

but life's lessons and blessings she taught us were a mixture

My imperfect mom...

She let dad work on the cars

took us to come as you are

left us in our pajamas

stayed away from the inevitable dramas

helped us find the library books

made the worst tuna but now we're all cooks

bought encyclopedias, let us play video games

taught us cards, and understood how to grow brains

pushed us out to the world we were so unsure

but we were ok,

our mom had made our home always safe and secure

My imperfect mom...

After all this, I think anyone can see...

My imperfect mom, was just perfect to me

Our mom handled imperfection better than anyone I knew. She didn't wallow in mistakes or regrets: ours or hers. She expressed joy and gratitude for even the smallest of God's gifts and we loved sharing this with her. We pray for her. We also pray that we all can find it in ourselves to learn from her and to improve our internal narratives to express more kindness and optimism to ourselves. Love you Mom. ✞💗😇

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Judy's honor to a Catholic charity of your choice; she was a devoted member of the Corpus Christi Catholic Parish community in Colorado Springs, CO.