Judith Knutson Ogden

Judith Knutson Ogden (Judy) was born in North Dakota in 1945 to parents of Norwegian descent. They moved to Kenedy, Texas, when she was five. She was a cheerleader and graduated as the valedictorian of her high school class. She graduated from Southwest Texas State University, third out of 597 students. She earned a master’s in English and was one course short of a double master’s in English and math. Following graduation, she accepted a position at San Antonio College as an associate professor of English. She met an Army officer, Jared Ogden, and after an 18-month courtship, they married in 1973 and moved to Georgia. There, she taught math at several high schools in Cobb County, Georgia, and worked as an adjunct instructor at Kennesaw State University, where she was offered a tenure-track position on the condition that she earned a Ph.D. At the time, she was also starting a family, and she and her husband agreed that motherhood was a full-time profession, so she declined the position and devoted the next 30 years to raising four children.

She was a true momma bear! As her children grew up, on weeknights, she always stayed up late helping them complete last-minute homework assignments and projects — leveraging her mastery of grammar and math. On weekends, she always stayed up late until her children returned from their activities — often bringing friends with them. She became known for offering late-night snacks and a warm smile and happy reception to the antics of teenagers. She never met a stranger, and those who knew her adored her. For twenty years, she escaped motherhood duties on Tuesday nights to sing in a nationally recognized barbershop chorus, and for many years, she sang on the front row. The front row required athleticism, timing, and coordination of intricate choreography, as well as a strong, pitch-perfect voice. In her later years, she aced the Master Gardener exam while her husband merely passed. She enjoyed joking that this allowed her to bypass any physical labor involved in gardening. Her specialty was dropping seeds into the holes dug by her husband.

She was a strong Christian and a devout lifelong Lutheran.

In 2016, she suffered a debilitating stroke, and her husband became her caregiver. Later, they moved to Blairsville, GA, where they had been building their retirement home prior to the stroke.

She is predeceased by her parents, Gorden and Eleanor Knutson of Kenedy, Texas. She is survived by her sister, Eileen Dalton of Lansing, Kansas; her husband of 51 years, Jared Wallace Ogden of Blairsville, Georgia; and her children, Joslyn Ogden Schaefer of Waynesville, North Carolina, an Episcopalian priest (Brian); Jared Wallace Ogden II, former Navy SEAL and current businessman in St. Louis, Missouri (Kate); Johanna Ogden Henneberg, a former defense contractor who now is a full-time mom of four children in McLean, Virginia (William); and John-Christopher Knutson Ogden (JC), a former through-hiker of the Appalachian Trail and current CPA and business consultant in St. Louis, Missouri (Liz); and her beloved grandchildren, Elias and Susannah Schaefer; Wallace, Adaline, and Walker Ogden; Helen, Daniel, Samuel, and Jack Henneberg; and little squirt-blossom, Gorden Ogden, who will be born in the coming weeks.

Services will be held on Monday, November 24th at 1p.m. at All Saints Lutheran Church in Blairsville, Georgia. Her remains will be interred in the family plot of the Walthourville Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Walthourville, Georgia on Wednesday at 10 a.m. on November the 26th,