Judith Kaye McCoy Lawson

Twelve minutes past midnight in St. Charles, Missouri, the 1938 4th of July had just begun, and so did the life of Judith Kaye McCoy. A Fourth of July birthday was always a double celebration for Judy. She was the daughter of Helen Ricks McCoy and David Wayne McCoy of Troy, Missouri.

Upon reaching school age, Judy attended the schools of Troy, graduating from Troy Buchanan High School with the class of 1956. She continued her education at the University of Missouri and Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa where she received a Bachelor's  of Science in 1959. Her graduate degree was earned at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois.

Judy became a teacher par excellence, teaching first for the Hazelwood schools in Hazelwood, Missouri, and then in the public schools of River Forest, Illinois. She then taught thirty two years for the Scottsdale Unified School District in Arizona, of which twenty four years were spent at her beloved Hopi Elementary School. Judy retired in 2000.

On September 11, 1965, Judy married Lowell B. Lawson in Troy, Missouri and soon afterward moved to Phoenix, Arizona where they maintained their residence ever since. They shared a life together for fifty seven years.

To this union were born two children: a son, Marc Modisett Lawson, and a daughter, Kaye Ricks Lawson.

Judy was a member of the Disciples of Christ (Christian Church) all of her life. She was an active member of the Alpha Phi social sorority, Daughters of the American Revolution, the Society of the Mayflower Descendants, PEO, Alpha Delta Kappa (education group), and the Arizona and National Education Associations.

She is survived by husband Lowell Lawson; son Marc Lawson and daughter-in-law Nane Lawson; daughter Kaye Lawson and son-in-law Justin Wright; grandchildren Taylor Mae Lawson-Smith and husband Derek Smith, Mackenzie Jaye McCoy Lawson and fiancée Carter Hanford, Oran Charleye Wright, Andon Lowell Wright; great grandchildren Nash Albert Modisett Smith, Eloise Judith Lynn Smith; siblings Phyllis Ann McCoy Hall (Bob) of Troy, Missouri; David Wayne McCoy (Betsy) of Hilton Head, South Carolina; Dr. William Eugene McCoy (Suzanne) of Salem, Missouri; brother-in-law Douglass Lawson (Louise) of Centralia, Missouri; nieces and nephews Chelle Hall, Matt Hall (Kasey); Ryan McCoy (Michele), Laine Shaefer, Patrick McCoy (Abbie), Shawn Lawson Edwards (Richard), Chris McCoy (deceased).