Thurston, Judy L. (Waggener) (1944 - 2024)

THURSTON, THOMPSON, SORENSON, WHITE, DIXON, HALVORSON, WAGGENER, AGEE, NELSON

Posted By: Denise Wurner (email)
Date: 3/23/2024 at 15:55:09

Name of deceased: Judy L. Thurston (nee Waggener)

Aged: 80 yrs, 3 days

Residence: Kimballton, Audubon County, IA

Born: Feb. 8, 1944; Longmont, Boulder and Weld Counties, CO

Died: Feb. 11, 2024; Harlan, Shelby County, IA

Funeral services: Saturday, March 9, 2024; Altamont Baptist Church, Harlan, IA

Survived by: Husband, Dave Thurston of Kimballton, IA; children, Diane (spouse, David) Thompson of Kimballton, IA, and Doug (spouse, Cindy) Thurston of Elk Horn, IA; sisters, Jeanne (spouse, Roy) Sorenson of Carmichael, CA, and Jan (spouse, George) White of Rio Linda, CA; grandchildren, Jodee (spouse, Arron) Dixon of Elk Horn, IA, Jared (spouse, Brittany) Thompson of Carmichael, CA, Tiffany (Randy) Halvorson of Grand Forks, ND, and Brandon (Patryce) Thurston of Roseville, CA; great-grandchildren, Sky, Jaded, Cameron, Tyde, Benjamin, Emagin, Abigail, Ivy and Brooks; other family members and friends

Predeceased by: Mother, Verna Waggener of Sacramento, CA; father, Dell Waggener of Martinez, CA; sister, Joanne (and spouse, Dave) Agee of Sacramento, CA; nephew, Brian Agee of Sacramento, CA; grandparents, Peter and Elizabeth Nelson of Berthoud, CO

Education: no information provided

Religious affiliation: no information provided

Military service: n/a

Marriage: no information provided

Employment: Began her first job polishing oranges for a grocer in California at age 10 and then started waitressing a year later. She worked almost 35 years for the California Dept. of Motor Vehicles before officially retiring in 2010–but she always had more than one job, whether it was cleaning rental units, working Bingo nights, or providing in-home care.

Hobbies/Interests: Living in Northern California for most of her life, she hosted many weekend fish frys and taco nights, Thanksgiving night card games, “Name gift” Christmases, and Secret Pal dinners with her large family—her house was the default gathering spot where there was always enough food to feed an army, and anyone could find a beverage of choice in the garage fridge. Her house was always offered first for hosting oversized garage sales, with items collected from family and friends and stored in the garage throughout the year. When she wasn’t hosting the family at these events, Judy loved to travel with them as well. In the early years, there were summer camping trips to Davis and Wright’s lakes. Later, she made annual trips to Disneyland or used sports tournaments to schedule impromptu family reunions, particularly after she and Dave moved to Iowa in 2011.

Sources: harlanonline.com; kjan.com; schmidtfamilyfh.com