On May 1, 1949, Dorman and Peggy (Briggs) Biller of Attica, Ohio welcomed their baby daughter, Judith Kay, into their lives. Their family grew 2 years later when they welcomed their baby boy, Judy's brother, David Allen. Judy had a very blessed upbringing in their rural home filled with strong faith and unconditional love.

In 1967, Judy graduated from Attica High School and went on to get her beautician's license shortly after. She worked briefly as a beautician for Myrt Gray in Attica. Judy also worked at a Wig Shop in San Francisco, California while her first husband, Jack Keaton, was in the military. She mentioned over the years that she had the honor of styling short hair wigs for the band Jefferson Airplane, while working at the wig shop. The band was scheduled to perform for the Queen of England and it was not acceptable to have "long hippie hair."

While in California, Judy was blessed with her first child, Jamie Keaton, in March of 1971.

In the early 1970s, Judy relocated back to Ohio and later divorced. For a brief time, she joined Home Interiors and was the first consultant in Ohio. Judy was able to learn and hone her amazing skills at home decorating during this venture. She then began working at R.R. Donnelley's in Willard, Ohio.

In May of 1974, Judy had a few comical interactions and a slight misunderstanding with a coworker, Ben, while working at Donnelley's. Shortly after this misunderstanding, Ben asked Judy out and they were inseparable from that point forward. A while into their new relationship, Ben was taking Judy to a family reunion and told her that when they arrived, she should call him Dale instead of Ben. Judy and her son Jamie were confused by this, to which he explained that his real name was Dale and that Ben was just a nickname at work which originated from the movie, Gentle Ben.

On September 7, 1974, Judy married the love of her life, Dale Ernest Fry, in Norwalk, Ohio. They initially started their family living near Willard, where in April of 1976, Judy, Dale, and Jamie welcomed their newest family member, Jennifer Marie. In 1978, Dale, Judy, Jamie and Jenny moved to Attica where they established their life-long home next door to Judy's parents.

In the early 1980s, Judy started a business with her mother, Peggy, called J&P Upholstery. They enjoyed working together and had many loyal customers over the years.  Judy was also involved with and later owned a second business called The Blue Goose, a craft store where she sold hand-painted wood crafts as well as a variety of other wares consigned by friends and acquaintances. In addition to upholstery and the Blue Goose, Judy displayed her handmade crafts at craft shows around Ohio for several years.

In 1997, Judy and Dale, along with friends, the Weatherbies, Martins, and Leddicks, decided to start a new adventure and start up their own outdoor craft and rendezvous festival. In July of 1997, the first Oak Ridge Festival was held and was a great success. The first three years, a July Oak Ridge Festival was held and continued to grow. The ORF Committee decided to add a second show each year in October. From then on, the Oak Ridge Festival was held each July and October, with the last show being October of 2019. Unfortunately, the pandemic and personal circumstances caused an end to this wonderful adventure.

Throughout the years, Judy was proud to serve as one of the church accompanists at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Attica. She was a very active and faithful member of this church. She was a Sunday school teacher for several years, very active in the Ladies Bible Study groups, served as the Junior Choir pianist, and served as a Junior Lutherans advisor for many years. Judy absolutely loved her church family.

Judy was a very active member of the Attica Literary Guild, was in a music club, and was a member of the Seneca County Convention and Visitor's Bureau representing the Oak Ridge Festival for several years. In the 1980s, she was also very involved with the musicals at Seneca East High School where she assisted with piano accompaniment and painting many backdrops and props. Judy was a very talented artist.

Another organization that Judy was very involved with was the Attica Hee Haw Gang back in the 1980s. Her husband, Dale, played the part of Junior Simples, while Judy played his "old nag." Her mother, Peggy, even joined in on the amateur acting fun to play the part of the old nag's hard-of-hearing mother. The friendships, laughter, and camaraderie of this group was unprecedented, and many memories were made to last lifetimes.

One of Judy's absolute favorite things in life was family. Whether it be her parents, kids, grandkids, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews or in-laws, she loved spending time with them all. Some of her hobbies and interests included playing piano, painting, sewing, reading, decorating her home for different holidays, gardening, and antique/craft/flea shopping with her husband Dale. Did you know, she had a collection of over 500 Santa Claus decorations??

In August of 2022, Judy was diagnosed with Merkel Cell Carcinoma. Which if you aren't aware, is an extremely rare type of skin cancer. The cancerous spot on her arm was successfully removed. This was followed up by radiation treatments and selection to be in a clinical trial for Keytruda. In September of 2023, Judy completed her last Keytruda infusion and was declared cancer FREE!! The battle was won! Several follow-up tests, the most recent being in early November 2024, showed results of no remaining cancer, which is a huge blessing due to the ferocity of that specific type of cancer.

On Sunday, November 24, 2024, God decided another angel was needed in heaven and Judy was next in line. After a fall that was later determined to be caused by a brain bleed, her body was simply unable to continue. With her family by her side, she took the final step. Judy's strong faith and love for God leave no doubts as to the next stride of her journey. Judy was blessed with 75 years on earth.

Some words recently shared by loved ones: faithful, one-of-a-kind, sweet, kind, beautiful, funny, witty, charming, generous, always smiling, wonderful, hard-working, amazing personality, talented, artistic, creative, one of the best, genuine, beautiful soul, accepting, loving, remarkable, positive, spunky, heart-of-gold, good friend, and uplifting. If you knew Judy, you know she had a remarkable ability to turn a 5-minute phone call into a 2 hour conversation. And, no matter where she was, no one was a stranger.

She was lovingly called by family and friends: Judy, Judy-Fry, Mama Fry, Fry-Mama, Grandma Judy, and Grandma Goose, in addition to daughter, grand-daughter, mom, sister, cousin, and niece.

Judy is survived by her husband of 50 years, Dale Fry of Attica, son Jamie (Angie) Keaton of Willard and daughter Jennifer (Don) Essinger of Attica; 7 grandchildren: Desirae, Skylar, Brittany, Tori, Austin, Madison, and Evelyn; 7 great-grandchildren: Serenity, Mason, Violet, Natalie, Theo, Sammy, and Hudsyn; her brother David (Linda) Biller of Lima, Ohio; brother-in-law Kyle (Joan) Fry of Greenwich, Ohio, along with 11 nieces and nephews (including special nephew Larry Fry), and many other cherished family members.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting memorials in Judy's honor be made to the Attica Firemen's Association, PO Box 94, Attica, OH 44807, or to the American Cancer Society donate.cancer.org

A memorial service will be held at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Attica on Sunday, December 8th starting at 1:00 p.m. The service will be live streamed on Facebook and YouTube by Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Attica. A celebration of life open house will follow this service from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. in the BLC Fellowship Hall. As part of the memorial service, Judy's family is requesting that those attending have the opportunity to share stories and memories of Judy. If you are not comfortable sharing during the service, we would love for you to jot down your thoughts, memories, and stories to share with the family.

Attica Fireman's Association
PO Box 94, Attica OH 44807

American Cancer Society
P.O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City OK 73123
Tel: 1-800-227-2345
Web: http://www.cancer.org/