Judith HARPER Obituary

George Clark who is 101 on 8 March 2023 remembers Judith when she was a child. Dad went to school with Judith's father, Ted, and his siblings at Kaniwhaniwha. Dad just asked me to phone Judith, and we discovered that she had sadly passed away in Sept 2022. Sincere condolences to all. Helen Clark.

Sad to hear about my cousin Judith my Grandmother Annie Rugby's nee Harper and Judith's Great-grandmother were sisters unbeknown to me until Judith found me on a genealogy side and from then on her knowledge about our family was immense. Only spoke to her on 26th August with more family updates. Will miss you Judith with much love cousin Katrina

Shocked to hear of my cousin, Judith´s passing. I always appreciated her `phoning me every few weeks to update me on what was happening in the Nelson region and any ancestry.com news that both of us were members of with, unsurprisingly, close DNA ties.

Rest in peace Cousin Judith You were instrumental in ensuring our family history was kept alive, your genuine interest in keeping our family connected will certainly be missed

Sadly I didn't get the opportunity to meet Judith but we shared some lovely phone calls. Judith contacted my daughter and I because of our family history links and kindly sent some information for our family tree. I really enjoyed our contact and was very sad to read that she has passed away. Please accept our deepest sympathy.

Judith should have been born a generation earlier! Her protocols and annunciation were legendary and she was as much friends with my parents as she was with me!
In the early 1980s Judith and I flatted together in Wellington where we always breakfasted together. I would be bleary eyed and not very sociable, whereas Judith was the exact opposite. She envied that I would get better as the day went on whereas she claimed she was the best she was going to be as soon as she opened her eyes - things could only go downhill from there!
Despite never having extra cash Judith made a comfortable and practical home wherever she went - her power drill, sewing skills and her regulated tidy habits saw to that.
Our friendship continued when we both shifted to Dunedin and Judith became the manager of the Otago Church Bookstore. Sadly the climate did not suit her and after several years she returned to Nelson. Having lugged her many boxes of books up, and later down, the stairs of her Dunedin flat I am witness to her love of reading!
Her books were some of her best friends and she thoroughly enjoyed learning the art of book binding when she first shifted back to Nelson. And it was from books that she became the great armchair traveller who knew some parts of the world like the back of her hand. It always surprised her that we did not all read as avidly as she, nor remember the details quite as she did!
With her interest in genealogy she was keen to visit the UK and in 1991 went via LA to visit her Church of Christ friends. Sadly she felt the need to cut that trip short but not before she visited family sites in Scotland. On her return she very generously she came to Auckland where I was working at a Christian ministry job that was too much for me alone. She shared the smallest of one bedroom flats with me, did the cooking and the laundry and several hours of admin every day for about three months. Her generous support was amazing.
Although we have not seen much of each other these last years we remained interested in each other and in each other´s families and our shared Christian faith. Judith valued her spiritual birth into the Christian family above everything (although her love of genealogy came a close second!) and in earlier days she preferred to remember the day she first came to the Lord rather than her biological birthday. Perhaps latterly she had mellowed on that one?
For many years she lived sacrificially as she worked for Child Evangelism Fellowship, housing and selling their printed resources. While I am shocked and saddened at her sudden departure from this life, I am certain that she is now enjoying all that the gold page from CEF´s "Wordless Book" stands for: Gold reminds us of heaven where there is no more no more sickness and no more tears - and definitely no aching knees! Judith is at home with her Lord - Well done, good and faithful servant!

Judith's interest and skills with genealogy was much appreciated and gave us information and knowledge about the extended family. We are sorry to hear this news and apologise we are unable to attend her farewell. Robert Sinclair and Andrae Gold. Ashburton.

So sad to hear of Judith's passing, and so suddenly. We will miss her visits and chats on the phone. Her interest in us and our family and the extended Harper Clan was well known and acknowledged. We will miss you Judith. Rest in Peace, in Love and Light.

So sad to hear of Judith´s passing. We enjoyed her stay with us in Te Awamutu recently, as well as lunch in Richmond in November. Great sense of humour and the entire family will miss her immense knowledge of our family history. Loved her dearly. Thoughts and prayers to you all

Deepest sympathy to you all in the loss of a beloved sister, aunt, sister-in-law. May she rest in peace.
She was a lovely cousin who became a dear friend. I shall miss her.

I was so saddened to read of Judith's passing. Judith and I went to High School in Kawhia together in the early 1960s We never had much contact over the years but she visited me last year in Kawhia and we had a very enjoyable afternoon catching up on years gone by. We also had a telephone conversation not three months ago .Love and deepest sympathy to all the family Thinking of you at this sad time. Patsy Scott