Judith J. Hale

Judith (Judy) Jay Hale, née Diller, age 96, of St. Louis, Missouri, passed away on April 26, 2023, from natural causes following a history of chronic heart failure.

Judy was born in Manhattan Beach, California on March 4, 1927, to Lella (née Skalla) and Charles (Charley) R. Diller.  She graduated from Polytechnic High School in Riverside, California.

Judy was married to James C. Hale on November 21, 1945; they were married over 67 years until his death at the age of 86 in 2012.

Judy worked as a clerk typist for the Riverside County Courthouse for about 7 years until the birth of her first child. As a full-time homemaker, Judy took the full-time part to the limit.  When she developed a new interest, eventually she would become an expert.  Not surprisingly, many of her interests revolved around homemaking. Judy was an amazing gardener, even managing to grow tropical plants in the Southern California heat.  She also used her green thumb to grow plants that were edible (no one can forget her tomatoes or her strawberries).  Related interests included sewing, knitting, and crocheting (which she perfected in her 20s and 30s) followed by learning to macrame (which she perfected in her 40s).  One of her lifelong activities included crocheting baby blankets for her grandchildren, great grandchildren, and the many offspring of her nieces and nephews.  Remarkably, in the last months of her life she developed a new interest and became obsessed with creating original art using “Reverse Coloring” techniques. 

Judy is survived by 2 great grandchildren (Winter and Mars ), 3 grandchildren (Jamie, Madeline, and Andrew), 2 step-great grandchildren (Samantha and Jess), 3 step-grandchildren (Mariah, Leah, and Joshua), 3 children and their spouses (Sandra Hale and Joel Myerson, Kenneth and Christine Hale, and Douglas and Maria “Inma” Hale), plus 14 nieces and 7 nephews, as well as other family members (including all the offspring of her nieces and nephews) and friends.

Judy was preceded in death by her brother (Charles “Charlie” E. Diller), her three sisters (Elsie Drake, Twila French, and Evelyn Hoss), two of her nieces (Donna French and Susan Hale), and three of her nephews (Jerry Hale, Dennis Hale, and Richard Hale).

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Cremation Society of America who has sent Judy’s ashes to Desert Lawn in Mohave, Arizona where she will be interred adjacent to her spouse, James.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (https://www.mda.org). The family of Judith Hale is preparing a memorial power-point presentation to be sent to family members and friends.  The presentation primarily focuses on her recent artwork, the joy it brought to her, and the joy she brought to those of us who were lucky enough to be caring for her these last few years.