Chapter 14: She was irreplaceable

BY JO RICHARDS
Special to the Leader

I’m going to use this space for something a bit different this week. I’ve had several people stop me to say they enjoy Chapter 14, and some have said it’s nice that I’m “taking Pat’s place.”

I could never take Pat Judkins’ place. She has been dearly missed by this community since her death, and we will continue to miss her for all time. “My Word,” the column she wrote for The Leader for many years, was unique and much more professional than anything I could ever do.

Pat was a journalist with a sincere concern for her work who spent hours writing and rewriting. She was always concerned that she might forget someone, offend someone or print something wrong in the slightest way. She delighted in putting people’s names in her column and surprising them with a story about their birthday, a family visitor, a birth or a family reunion.

She was a devoted Roadrunner and mentioned every event we held. She was kind and considerate, and in the 20 years I called her my friend, I cannot recall anyone saying a bad word about her.

She was also the best historian Lucerne Valley could ever have. There was never a conversation or question regarding our little community she could not answer. She knew our history and could recite the time and date of most events. Many times during a meeting or gathering something needed clarifying and the next statement was always “call Pat”

We all felt she was special and we all felt a closeness to her family because she included them in many columns. Alex, her grandson and the light of her life, grew into a fine young man as we learned about him through many tales in “My Word.”

The Leader was fortunate to have Pat in house, and those of us who knew her were blessed to call her a friend.

I’m flattered by the comparison, but I will never be able to fill Pat Judkins’ shoes.

Jo Richards is a longtime Lucerne Valley resident who muses about local life in this bi-weekly column. The name of the column comes from something Jo often says after telling an anecdote: “That’s Chapter 14 in the book I’m gonna write!”