udson passed away Thursday, Feb., 19, 2015, at Immanuel Lutheran Home in Kalispell.
Judson was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on Jan. 18, 1922, to Richard Judson Moore and Irene Whitley (Lamb) Moore. Judson attended grade school in Tuscumbia, Alabama, Treadwell Junior High School in Memphis and graduated from Central High in Memphis in 1940. He attended Memphis State College from 1940 to 1942.
He enlisted in the Army Air Corps (which later became the U.S. Air Force) in 1942, and served as a navigator/bombardier in the 8th Air Force, 401st Bombardment Group, flying in a B-17, stationed in England. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force as a second lieutenant after the end of World War II, 1945.
Judson enrolled in the Journalism school at the University of Montana. He took a train west with an Air Force friend to Missoula to attend college, since all of the colleges in the east were flooded with men who wanted to attend college after the end of World War II. While at the University of Montana, he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and was also initiated into the Sigma Delta Chi fraternity – the professional journalistic fraternity. Judson graduated from the Journalism School in 1948, with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
On Aug. 21, 1949, he married Mary Alyne Marie Kidd in Tacoma, Washington. They lived in Walla Walla, Washington, where Judson worked at the Walla Walla Union Bulletin as a reporter. In 1955, Judson returned to the University of Montana and completed a Master of Arts degree.
Judson worked in Helena at the Montana Lung Association, the Montana Department of Health and Environmental Sciences and the Montana Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. In 1962, Judson was hired by the Forest Service in Missoula to be the information officer. He continued to work for the Forest Service in Missoula until his retirement in 1996. Judson also served in the Air Force Reserves for 20 years, retiring from the Air Force in 1982 as a major.
Both Judson and Mary were active members of the University Congregational Church in Missoula for many years.
After his retirement, Judson volunteered extensively at numerous charities in the Missoula area, including Missoula Food Bank, Missoula Public Library, 10 years with Miss Cox’s fourth grade class at Lewis and Clark Grade School and others. Judson also kept physically active in his retirement, running in many road races in the Missoula area and walking the family dogs until all their dogs “had gone to heaven.”
Judson was a quiet, unassuming Southern gentleman. He was a faithful, trustworthy, ethical, honest, industrious and dependable man. He was a man of sterling character and ethics and a conscientious, hard worker.
Survivors include his son, Willy Moore, in Portland; his daughter, Susan, and her partner, Susan Okonsky, in Whitefish; one niece, Nancy Kidd, and her husband, Mark Mershon, in Minneapolis; and one nephew, Tom, and his wife, Marlene Kidd, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The family would like to thank the Bigelow family, Jim, MaryAnn, Sarah, Adam and Hannah for always keeping an eye on and providing helping hands for their "adopted" grandparents. The family also wishes to extend their deepest thanks to the "angels" at Immanuel Lutheran Skilled Care facility, Kalispell, for the respect, dignity, and compassion they showed to Judson in the last weeks of his life.
Friends are encouraged to visit the website www.buffalohillfh.com to leave notes of condolence for the family. Buffalo Hill Funeral Home and Crematory is caring for the family.