Julia “Judy” Douglas, a spirited, quick-witted grocer, news editor, librarian and mother of three, passed away on Sunday, June 5, 2016, at the Little Colorado Medical Center in Winslow. She was 95, and lived independently in her family home until her last day.
Judy Douglas believed in the power and the fun of words; her decades of work at The Winslow Mail, at the Winslow Soroptimist Foundation and at the Winslow Library expressed her dedication to communication and education, and the community fostered by them. She was a keen and discerning reader of news and novels, and a voracious, passionate game player.
Julia Ann Douglas was born on June 18, 1920, in Denver, Colo., and grew up in Mogollon, N.M., and Clarkdale. Her father, Walter Huntington, was a mining engineer from Alhambra, Calif., and her mother, Mabel Scureman was from Denver.
After graduating from Clarkdale High School as valedictorian, Judy met and married Randall DeForest Douglas, a retail merchant from Indiana who had come to the Southwest to convalesce from malaria. Judy and Randall moved to Winslow in 1946 and opened the Douglas Food Market on Second Street, which they co-owned and ran for almost thirty years.
After the grocery store closed, Judy began a two-decade-long career at The Winslow Mail, where she worked as a copy editor, advertising manager and office manager. When The Winslow Mail closed in 2007, Judy refocused her commitment to words and community in Winslow through her ongoing volunteer work at the Winslow Public Library, where she served on the board of directors of Friends of the Library, and at the Chamber of Commerce. For sixty years, she was an active member of and volunteer with the Winslow Soroptimists, dedicated to improving the lives of women through access to education. Judy loved Winslow and was devoted to it, and she was named Winslow Citizen of the Year in 2004.
Judy and Randall had three children, Dr. Marie Douglas LaPrade, a chemist and x-ray crystallographer; David Paul Douglas, a computer systems administrator and dreamer; and Dr. Richard Huntington Douglas, a biochemist and biotechnology director. In her 74 years as a mother, Judy was absolutely devoted, resolutely loving, and had the grace and wisdom to accept and admire her children as they were.
Judy was predeceased by her husband Randall, her sister Dorothy George and her brother Robert Huntington, and by her daughter Marie and son David.
She is survived by her nieces Catherine George Johnson and Jean Huntington, and nephews Stanley George, Robert Huntington Jr. and Bing Huntington; by her daughter-in-law Martha Douglas, two step-grandchildren, Emily and Peter Fisk, and four step-great-grandchildren; by her son Richard, daughter-in-law Anita Kupriss, and grandson Christopher Douglas; and by many friends gathered lovingly from a lifetime in Winslow.
