Judith Ann Siegert (1942-2020)

SIEGERT, WALSER

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 8/4/2020 at 14:28:00

Judith (Judy) Ann Siegert, 77, of Dubuque IA, passed away on July 31st at Unity Point Hospital with her sister by her side, due to underlying medical issues and recently contracting COVID-19.

A private family memorial will be held at a later date. The Egelhof, Siegert & Casper Westview Funeral Home and Crematory is entrusted with arrangements.

Judy was born on Aug 22, 1942 in Dubuque, Iowa, the daughter of Arnold and June (Walser) Siegert. She was a confident, accomplished RN, who used her skills to travel the world. After graduating from Finley Hospital’s nurse training program in the early 60’s, she worked in Boulder Colorado, British Columbia, Ontario, Hawaii, and Florida. She then travelled through and sometimes worked in Tehran (Iran), South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. She backpacked in Nepal and spent time on a Kibbutz in Israel. She spent many years working in Los Angeles. She worked several years at a US military hospital in Augsburg, Germany. She also worked as a prison nurse in Camden, NJ. She returned to California to work in San Francisco, and finally settled in Temecula near Los Angeles to work as an occupational health nurse. Her aunts Betty and Vera lived nearby, and they enjoyed local restaurants and year round good weather. Judy also found out that she was a good waitress when she helped out at Aunt Betty and Uncle Bob’s mexican restaurant in Crestline, CA. She and Betty spent a lot of time together and became very close. Her nephew Jeff lived nearby in San Diego and later Pasadena and visited often. Health problems eventually led Judy to move back to Dubuque to be near her sister Sandy and the rest of the family.

Judy’s compassion, empathy, and pragmatic nature served her and her patients well as a nurse. She did private duty nursing for Phil Silvers, Sammy Davis Jr., John Ritter’s mother, and Walt Disney. She worked with Dr DeBakey, the surgeon renowned for pioneering the first successful heart transplant.

Judy was an extremely thoughtful and generous person, who expected nothing in return. Although she did not have children of her own, she was very close to her two nephews and niece and gave them some experiences they will never forget. She took her niece Jodi to Hawaii for her sixteenth birthday, where she learned a quick lesson on independence and self-assurance by flying alone on a plane, taking a cab alone from LAX to Santa Monica, and experiencing an earthquake while alone in Judy’s apartment. She hosted her nephew Greg on an extended trip to California as he worked in various places in Los Angeles and San Francisco. They spent time having dinner together and going for walks at Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Her nephew Jeff recalls running with her to catch trains or ferries all over Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece – imbuing in him some of her confidence and grit to overcome unforeseen challenges.

Judy was also an avid reader and could easily read a book in a day’s time. She enjoyed going to the movies, although you could never sit next to her because she talked through the entire thing and had conversations with the characters on the screen! She was also an animal lover and had many furry friends over the years, including horses on the farm, her Arabian horse in California, her dog Tasha, and cats Tabitha, Hijack, Hunter and Bogart.

Judy was preceded in passing by her mother June (Walser) Siegert and father Arnold Siegert, aunts Donna Mae Moore, Marguerite Walser, June Walser, Loretta (Red) Bahl, Lavina Kleis, Sally Reavell and Virginia (Ginny) Siegert. She was also preceded in passing by her uncles Donald (Boots) Walser, Robert (Bob) Leibold, Gene Gates, Al Siegert, Laverne Brimeyer, Eldon (Bub) Bahl, Bob (Ozzie) Kleis and George Reavell.

Judy is survived by her favorite (and only) sibling Sandy Regan, her brother-in-law Jim Regan, her niece Jodi (Jim) Watters and their boys Eli and Elliot, her nephew Jeff Regan, his wife Helena Vervoort and their girls Anika, Winnifred, Veronica and Pippa, and her nephew Greg Regan. She is also survived by her aunts Betty (Walser) Liebold, Vera (Walser) Gates, Marlene (Siegert) Brimeyer, Betty Tigges, her uncle Bob Siegert. Also surviving are many cousins on the Siegert side and only one cousin, Cheryl Walser Kramer, on the Walser side. Lastly, Judy is survived by her special friend Roy Child of Port Orange FL. The family was unable to reach him, but he called three days after she died because he knew something was wrong. He said, “I’ll never forget her, I loved that little girl.”

The family wishes to thank Dr. Ringold, Dr. Putz, Dr. Powers, the staff at Tri State Dialysis, the staff at Eagle Point Place, and the nurses at Unity Point 5 North and ICU.

Our family would like to give a heartfelt thank you to Dr. John Whalen for his care and compassion, and for giving us the precious gift of six more years with Judy when she was under his care.

Judy,
You are our hero, so brave, love always and forever.
Your family