Judith Anne Dorothy Bronson died peacefully at home on November 12, 2015 with her loving daughter, Sarah Parks, and two sisters, Cindy Shallit and Nancy Bell Morgan at her side. Born in International Falls, Minnesota on January 5, 1946, where her parents, Paul Wesley Meinke and Lorraine Pearl (Scott) Meinke were teachers at a little two-room schoolhouse.

She spent her childhood in Port Angeles, Washington and graduated from Port Angeles Senior High in 1964. She was an accomplished flutist in the high school band and community symphony orchestra. After graduation she attended Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon where she met her first husband, David Simpson. When he began studies at the Yale Divinity School, they moved to Connecticut and spent weekends and summers working together under the auspices of the Danbury Connecticut Council of Churches as coordinators of programs for youth from low income families. The Interfaith Social Action Corporation (ISAC) was formed as result of their work and resulted in the creation of several agencies including the Interfaith Day Care Center, the Beaver Street Cooperative Housing Development, and the Association of Religious Communities. Judy worked as a part-time teacher with the preschoolers in the Daycare center.

Judy completed her college degree from Western CT State University. When both children were in school she enrolled at Bank Street College of Education and earned her MS Degree in Early Childhood Education in 1978. She taught elementary school for 10 years. From 1988 until 1993 she was the director of the Interfaith Day Care Center, where, under her leadership, the program earned prestigious NAEYC accreditation.

As a facilitator and consultant she took her skills and experience to other day care programs to promote developmentally appropriate practices in pursuit of NAEYC accreditation. Throughout the rest of her career she worked at the Litchfield County Head Start program and as a consultant to evaluate programs for the NAEYC accreditation. She retired in 2013, but continued working as a consultant and conducting workshops until her illness in 2015.

In late 1987, she and her second husband, Frederick Sherman Bronson (Fred) built a beautiful home in Warren, Connecticut. Throughout her life, Judy developed a wide circle of friends through work, her participation at the Unitarian Universalist church, and in her hobbies of bird watching, gardening, kayaking, and hiking. She served on the Warren Public Library Board of Directors. She had a talent for nurturing and maintaining close relationships with friends and family and was beloved by all.

She was preceded in death by her son Timothy David Simpson.

She is survived by her husband Fred Bronson, daughter Sarah Parks and her husband Harold, step-daughters, Gay and Beth Bronson, two grandchildren, Noah and Anna Parks, two sisters, Cindy Shallit, and Nancy Bell Morgan and a niece and nephew, Sarah and Daniel Shallit.

A memorial to celebrate her life was held at her home on Saturday, November 14. She will be buried in a family plot in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

In lieu of flowers, donations would be greatly appreciated to Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury,
24 Clapboard Ridge Road
Danbury, CT 06811; Interfaith Social Action Corp Interfaith Day Care Center, 119 Osborne St, Danbury, CT 06810 or Warren Public Library, 15 Sackett Hill Rd., Cornwall Bridge, CT 06754.

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