Judith Ann Warco

With the rising of the sun each day, new people are born into this world who will leave it better
than it was before their arrival. One such person, Judith Ann Warco, was born on September 5,
1943, near League City, Texas. She tirelessly spent her 80 years on this planet forging a path
that has helped lead us collectively to a brighter and more promising future. Judy succumbed to
stage IV breast cancer on December 4, 2023, in Greenville, South Carolina.

Raised by a single mother along with her brother John C. Woodard who preceded her in death
and a large extended family, Judy grew up in Texas and graduated from the University of
Houston in 1965, later earned a master's degree in Special Education from Converse College.
Inspired by the vision created by President Kennedy, she joined the Peace Corps in 1965 and
spent two years working in Liberia, where she acquired a love for Africa and travel. Upon her
return to the States, she met the love of her life, George Warco. They were married in August
10, 1968, and lived together until her death with him at her bedside as she took her last breath.
Their marriage served as a model of love in service to each other with ceaseless respect,
kindness, partnership, and commitment. George’s deep love for Judy was evidenced by his
giving her the best of care in her last year of life, ensuring that her quality of life was rich to the
end. Their marriage was one to be envied.

Judy found her calling as a special education teacher and dearly missed the classroom when
she became the Administrator of Preschool Special Education for the Greenville School District.
But she taught her greatest lessons outside of the classroom as she touched and inspired
anyone who was blessed enough to have met her. She was an avid reader of history,
biographies, and non-fiction although she always liked a good story. She was an avid bird
watcher. She loved to visit the various bird sanctuaries and National and State Parks throughout
the U.S. and Canada to see her avian delights. She carried her ever-present binoculars hoping
to catch sight of a rare bird but always delighting in the flora and fauna around her. She wrote
three exhaustively researched books about the city in which she was raised; she served as a
citizen activist who cared deeply about her community; she was a devoted friend and nurtured
lifelong relationships as she moved from state to state; she was an amazing mother and wife;
and she brought sunshine to all who loved her. A fan of Barbra and Dolly, Judy passed along a
love for music to her children. After her retirement, she soaked up opportunities to learn more
about the world in which she lived in and to travel. Perhaps the best testimony to her innate
goodness is the fact that her brothers- and sisters-in-law and her former daughters-in-law loved
her and felt fortunate to be members of her family.

She is survived by her husband of fifty-five years George; her sons Laurance and Daniel; and
her four grandchildren Ethan, Lily, Landon, and Ryan, each of whom carries a ray of her
sunshine into the next generation with a bit of her wit, intelligence, and kindness.

As the sun sets each day, people all around the world mourn the passing of someone by telling
the friends or family of the deceased, “I’m sorry for your loss.” After the sunset on the day that
Judy died, and her family realized that the opposite was true: they were so sorry for anyone who didn’t
have the opportunity to have met her and basked in her warmth. She was truly one of a kind.

A celebration of her life will be held in League City, Texas, on January 6, 2024, where family and
friends will share their memories of Judy while doing the thing that she treasured most:
spending time together.