Judith
Ann Maher 1944-2008
Judith
Ann Maher was born 19 July 1944 in Kankakee, the daughter of
James and Laverna Maher. She had two older brothers,
William and Edward. The 1949 Kankakee city directory
lists James as a factory worker at David Bradley and Laverna
as a laundry worker at Domestic Laundry. They lived at
371 N. Harrison. But by the 1952 city directory only
James is listed, now working at the Joliet Arsenal.
According to the Keean yearbook, Judy transferred to
Kankakee High School in her junior year from a high school
in the Dominican Republic, although she is also in the 1960
yearbook for Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida.
(The 1959 Kankakee city directory lists James V. Maher
living at 292 N. Indiana Avenue and working at David Bradley
but Laverna is not listed.)
(Judy was in Kankakee for her last two years of high school,
living with her father. Her mother evidently had ties
to the Dominican Republic and Judy no doubt lived with her
before returning to Kankakee.)
Judy married Lloyd D. Opper in April 1963 in Seminole,
Florida. She gave birth to a son, David James Opper,
in December of that year. Judy and Lloyd were divorced
two years later. She married three additional times,
lastly to Donald Hugh Turner in South Carolina.
Her entry on classmate.com, showing her living in Orlando,
states: “My life is my pets. They are all happy and healthy.
My Job - Making molds for concrete statues and fountains,
handling new employees and doing office work. Cancer
survivor since 1962."
Her mother Laverna R. Ansley, died in 1986 at the age of
66. Her father, James V. Maher, died a year later at
the age of 71. Both were living in the Orlando area
and their obituaries list Judith and her two brothers as
survivors.
Judy died 9 August 2008 in Orlando, according to information
posted to ancestry.com by her daughter, Lisa Watson,
daughter of her last husband,
(The Dominican Republic connection is somewhat
puzzling. Judy was born in Kankakee but her parents
separated at some point. In 1955 Judy and her mother -
with the surname of McBride while Judy’s is Maher - are
recorded as entering the US in Puerto Rico from the
Dominican Republic. Her mother's obituary said she
moved to Florida from the Dominican Republic in 1957.
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