My Early ObituarySidetracked Sisters

**This is a writing. It is not real.**

On a special day in the future, Judy passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family members and their dogs. Judy made a special request that when the time came, there would be a gathering of all her loved ones. She passed in her orange bedroom knowing that her color preferences would be honored.Judy was born in 1949 at St. Joseph’s Hospital at 7:30 PM. For the first (and possibly the last) time in her life, she was early. She was born two months prematurely. The first forty days of her life she spent in an incubator. During this time, she never had the benefit of human touch.

She was the youngest of three girls born to Isabel and Ronald Meister. As she grew, Judy was tagged the “caretaker”. She sought to bring harmony to all areas of her family’s life. This was not easy, especially with her feisty middle sister, Sandy.

Judy loved riding her bike and playing with the neighbor kids. She had the best cowboy getup in the neighborhood complete with authentic Roy Rogers cowboy boots.

As she grew older, she was happiest in the water. She loved to canoe, sail, and water ski. She enjoyed these sports along with camping at various Girl Scout camps and later with her family.

Her first job was lifeguarding and teaching swimming lessons at the local YMCA.

Judy earned good grades all through school and graduated in the top ten students in her class of two hundred ninety-five at Beaver Dam Senior High School.

Her professions included Banking, Retail Store Ownership, and Downtown Revitalization. After her first retirement at age seventy, Judy returned to work at the local hospital. She thoroughly enjoyed her work as a guest services ambassador. Her passion for helping people and caretaking were very useful in this work.

Throughout her numerous careers, Judy worked and played with her sister and two nieces in their side gig called Sidetracked Sisters. They were crafters first and next turned to legacy writing. They cherished family memories and felt it their duty to write down their stories for their loved ones. Starting with a Facebook page, evolving to a blog, and growing to a podcast called Sidetracked Legacies. The foursome expanded their legacy writing to include assisting others in the process of keeping family memories alive. Sidetracked Sisters published their first book in 2022 which included their first series of writings from 2014 through 2021. There were other memoirs to come but the first book will always be special because it proved to the sisters that they could make it happen!

At the time of Judy’s passing, Sidetracked Sisters were working on book number ten. Their podcast had grown immensely over the years and Judy found her true passion helping others write and publish their stories.

Judy was preceded in death by her mother and father and her sister Kathy. She is survived by her son Matt, sister Sandy (Art), two nieces Lisa (Craig), Michelle. and their six children, Luka, Kadon, Aubrey, Brad, Nate, and Jessica. Other special survivors include stepdaughter Kiley, and her beautiful family and stepson Shawn and his family.

Judy was blessed to have many friends and other extended family, too many to name and too important to forget. Her last days were spent with her soulmate, Michael, and their son Matt and his family.