Judith “Judy” Speirs

Judy Speirs, loving mother, daughter, sister, wife, aunt, friend, and lover of all animals, passed peacefully over the “rainbow bridge” on Saturday, November 23rd, 2024, surrounded by friends, family, and her loving cat, Cinder.

Judy entered this earthly realm on Wednesday, October 7th, 1942, into the loving arms of Rhea Frances Jensen and Kirby Stanley Jensen, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Judy was also welcomed by, and shared a special kinship with her sister Janet.

From the outset, Judy wasn’t a typical child. She termed herself a “tomboy” and lived life with zeal and ambition. As a child, she ate coal from the coal pile, ran around the neighborhood hopping fences and climbing trees with boys lagging behind. She often talked about hanging out at the Cudahy Packing Company stock yards, dragging State Street in cement trucks, and screaming herself hoarse at high school football games and then trying to fake singing in A cappella class in the succeeding days.

Judy spent the first several years of her life in South Salt Lake before the building of the Interstate Highway System required the vacating of her childhood neighborhood. Instead of rebuilding their lives in a new house, her family moved their beloved home to the Millcreek area. She and Ron moved back into this home in 2010 after her mother’s move into assisted living.

After graduating high school, and with a civil service exam accreditation, she was hired as a legal secretary, in the Regional Solicitor’s Office of the U.S. Department of the Interior, where she worked for several years.

Judy loved music and she took up choral singing in the internationally acclaimed Salt Lake Symphonic Choir. There she met, and after a modest courtship, married Ronald Leon Speirs on 14 April 1967 in the Salt Lake Temple. Ron was employed in the Phoenix, Arizona area and they lived in Tempe for several years. She was a skilled piano player and teacher, with the unique gift of sight reading music quickly. She and Ron also shared a love of classical music and attended the symphony for many years.

After moving back to Utah due to employment changes, Ron and Judy would welcome their only child, Daland into the world in 1977.

Judy enjoyed many crafts and hobbies. She enjoyed rubber stamping, counted cross stitch, knitting, cup decorating, making and coloring greeting cards, making Christmas ornaments, and many others.

Judy loved the arts and each summer the family would attend plays produced by the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City. She also loved movies, watching “moldy-oldies” black and white films from decades earlier. She was well known for having well over 750 VHS cassettes with thousands of movies and programs.

A lover of all animals, Judy welcomed many into her home over the years. She accomplished her ultimate goal in 1985 of adopting two Irish Wolfhounds, and she and Ron would care for 15+ hounds over the next 39 years, her last dog King Louie, passing barely short of two months before her passing. She also loved cats, tarantulas, chinchillas, hamsters, mice, rats and fish. In years past, she would gleefully have Ron sneak in her tarantula into her hospital room, where she loved watching the nurses’ reactions.

Judy was a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and served in many callings. She loved teaching “Junior Sunday School” and had hundreds of paper cutouts to place on flannel boards to go along with scripture stories. She served in several Relief Society positions, including twice as Secretary.

Judy is survived by her sister Janet, son Daland, many nieces and nephews, countless friends, and her cat, Cinder. She is preceded in death by her husband Ron; mother Rhea; father Kirby; brother-in-law Merrill; and many beloved pets. The family wishes to extend a heartfelt thanks to the loving staff at Millcreek Gardens, Quality hospice, Visiting Angels, and the many friends and family who cared for her.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation be made to the The Irish Wolfhound Foundation, your local animal shelter or Humane Society in Judy’s name.

A viewing will be held on Friday, December 6th, 2024 from 1800 – 2000 hours (6pm – 8pm) at the Winder 7th Ward (4350 S. 1100 E.) Saturday, December 7th, 2024 from 1100 to 1145 at Starks Funeral Parlor where friends may call. A modest memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 7th, 2024 at 1200 at Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 South 900 East, Salt Lake City.

A Celebration of Life for both Ron and Judy will also be held at a later date, yet to be determined.

Funeral direction under the excellent care of Starks Funeral Parlor.

Interment at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park – Resthaven section