WELLS – Judith Ann Ridley, 91, passed away peacefully on Jan. 19, 2024 at Avita of Wells.

The daughter of William H. Velandry Jr., and Florence Pinette, she was born in Biddeford, Maine. She graduated from Sanford High School after her family moved there when she was a teenager.

A people person with a great head for figures, Judy was a secretary and bookkeeper for the Ronel J. Dubois Insurance Agency in Sanford for 30 years. She was equally skilled at balancing the books and working with customers. A natural teacher, she hired and trained two generations of office staff.

While working full-time, Judy also was a wonderful mother, cook, and homemaker who saved and budgeted so the family could enjoy vacations at the beach or lake and other treats. Her fish chowder, grape nut custard pudding, and blueberry muffins were famous.

Judy relished her retirement years, traveling on bus tours with her husband Russell, doing aqua aerobics with her “pool pals” at the Sanford YMCA, and solving crossword puzzles in the daily newspaper. She had a way with words and delighted family and friends by writing poems about them for their birthdays.

Judy was always ready with a joke and a hug for everyone she met on her daily rounds in Sanford, from the cashiers at Hannaford’s to her fellow patrons at Dunkin’ Donuts. “I like making people laugh,” she always said.

“What the World Needs Now is Love” was one of Judy’s favorite songs in her later years, and she enjoyed singing it until the end of her life. It was her theme song. Judy spread love everywhere she went.

Judy is predeceased by her husband Russell and son Kenneth. She is survived by her daughter Kimberly Ridley and husband Thomas Curry, sister Eleanor Desrochers and her husband Robert, brother William H. Velandry III and his wife Priscilla, beloved sister-in-law Peggy (Ridley) Driscoll, and nine nieces and nephews.

Judy loved walking the local beaches.

A Celebration of Life will be held in May, 2024.

Arrangements are in the care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 47 Oak Street, Alfred, ME 04002.

Memorial donations in her name may be made to:

Laudholm Trust,

P.O. Box 1007,

Wells, ME 04090

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