Judith N. (Nichols) Williamson

Judith Williamson, (née Nichols) was born September 25, 1934, the only child of Bess and Delis V. Nichols of Knoxville, Tennessee.

After attending both public and boarding schools, she attended Queens College (now University) in Charlotte, North Carolina before returning to Knoxville to complete her undergraduate degree in music at the University of Tennessee.  She also received a Masters in Music at Tennessee. While at U.T. she did performance studies in voice and piano and specialized in choral directing which she also studied under famed choral conductor Robert Shaw.  Before moving North, she was the music director of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Church in Knoxville.

Moving North in the 1960s, she was the choral director at Emerson High School in Gary, Indiana, making her home in her beloved Indiana Dunes.

Her first position in Illinois was at the high school in Mundelein.  From there she moved to the music department of McHenry County College in Crystal Lake. Eventually the Chair of the Music Program, she retired from MCC in 2003.

During her career, she had the opportunity for several periods of living and working abroad—first in Kaiserslautern, Germany. In 1982, she spent a sabbatical year studying Arab music while living in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, during which time she also visited South and Southeast Asia. She spent one year as a visiting faculty member at Christ Church College (now University) in Canterbury, UK.

Judy was an active member of Delta Kappa Gamma, a professional honor society for women educators with chapters in seventeen countries.

Judy traveled extensively:  in retirement, she made trips to several different regions of Italy which included courses in cooking of the regional cuisines. Retirement travel also included trips to Northern Europe, France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand often with Chicago area friends.

Judy died on May 14, 2017 at JourneyCare Hospice in Woodstock.

A "Celebration of Life Party" will be held on Sunday, October 29, at 2pm at 1776 Restaurant, 397 W Virginia St, Crystal Lake.

There will be a light buffet and drinks and musical entertainment from a few of Judith's many musician friends.  Please bring a story or reminiscence (especially a timorous one) to share.  RSVP by October 21 to any of the following emails: waphil3@gmail.com , shellykaplang@sbcglobal.net , or kathymueller10@comcast.net ; you may also call 815-477-1281 or 815-459-4142.