Obituary of Judith Dianne Mumford

Judith “Judy” Dianne Snider Mumford, passed away on May 25, 2024.

Judy was a daughter, sister, friend, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, and great grandmother. She was all these and so much more. She was not a church goer; however, she did hold our lord as her savior, and we can rest assured that she is resting in His arms.

Judy was born on June 7, 1939 in Shelbyville, Illinois and moved to Texas as a young child. Attending school and graduating from Arlington Heights High School in 1957, then attended Brantley-Draughn School of Business. She also married James right after graduating and started raising her children along with her beloved dogs. She was “dog crazy” all her life and always had at least one dog. She hosted a bunch of different animals over the years, fish tanks everywhere, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, cats, snakes, turtles, even a bobcat for a short time!

Her love of dogs led her to start her own kennel with German Shepherds, she got involved in the dog show world and loved that community, made many friends, even travelling around the country with her kids in tow to show her dogs. Corgis were also a special breed to her, and she did have a champion male Corgi named “Critter”. Also, her whippets were a favorite and Cassidy was a fun dog.

As a young mother, she was the pied piper of the neighborhood. All the kids gathered at the house to play games, she taught the girls how to play jacks (never let them win) and many neighbor kids would hang out in the front yard at night to hear her tell ghost stories. If the mood struck, she would pop up a couple of grocery sacks (the old paper kind) a cooler for drinks and load as many kids as could fit in the station wagon and take the whole crew to $1 a carload night at the drive-in. She pierced the girls’ ears with a big sewing needle, an ice cube and a wine cork! She was the “cool” mom and favorite aunt. She took her nephew, Randy, and 3 of his friends to compete in the High School Rodeo finals in Hallettsville so she could make sure he knew he couldn’t out drink her.

Judy and James loved to bowl, and they shared this with their kids who spent way too much time at the Wedgwood Bowl. She even got a part-time job at the bowling alley so she could take her kids with her. They were all very good bowlers.

She and James split up and she returned to TCJC to get her Real Estate License, become a broker, and eventually started her own company. Real estate was not so good after a while and she closed her office. She went to work for Sprint in the early nineties and retired after that.

She was so excited to be a grandma and the greatest love of her life was her grandson, Michael. She adored that little boy and never said no to him. She was his “Honey” and they spent so much time together. All the neighbor and friends’ kids called her Honey, too. She taught him to be adventurous, imaginative, and encouraged him to try “everything at least once” if he told her he didn’t like something. She taught him to eat his weight in crab legs as a kid. Loved taking him to the bowling alley to show him off to her friends. Watching Godzilla movies was fun. Honey even wore a full bunny suit, parked around the corner from the house and did not speak (so he wouldn’t know it was her) to come watch Michael hunt Easter eggs one year. She taught him to swim in the hot tub of her apartment. A favorite memory Michael shared was going down the highway with a full Sooper soaker and spraying cars with them both laughing like crazy.

Judy faced breast cancer diagnosis, melanoma, and other ailments in her later years, but it was the long goodbye with Alzheimer’s/dementia that took away her independence and ability to continue to live on her own. She did have great care at the facility and the family is grateful to the team who looked after her.

She is survived by her 3 children, James “Mark” Mumford of Decatur, TX, Marla K. Farmer and her husband Mickey of Burleson, TX, Martin “Marty” Mumford of Ft. Worth, TX; grandson, Michael Farmer, Jr. and his wife, Meredith; twin great grandsons, Michael, III and Henry of Burleson, TX, bonus daughter, Leisa Maas of Arlington, TX; sister, Sharon Voss of Decatur, TX; brother, Jon Snider of Florida; and Numerous nieces and nephews across the country.

She was preceded in death by her parents, father, Charles “Chick” Snider; mother, Blanda Love; and sister, Priscilla Johnson.