Judy Wheatley

Judy Wheatley, 67, of Vancleave, MS died Sunday, January 26, 2014 in Ocean Springs. If you knew Judy like I knew Judy, you too would be amazed like me. So let me tell you something about her. Judy was born in Mobile, AL to JP and BC Fountain in 1946. Sometime later, they moved to Houston, TX. When she was around 11, her father died and she and two of her brothers came to Mississippi to live with her grandmother, affectionately known as “Big Mama” and she attended Vancleave School. When she was 19, she met an airman who asked her to marry him and she said “yes”. Judy loved her children, Mickey, Lee and Shelly dearly, but she loved her grandkids, Marie, Amber, Debbie, Emily, Megan and Eli more than life itself. She had two sisters, Betina and Barbara, and three brothers, Julius, Leonard and Frankie. Her brothers-in-law are Harry, Denis, John, Carl, David and Noel. Her sisters-in-law are Bonnie, Hope, Ann, Ruth, Margaret, Rosalie and Theresa. She has two daughters-in-law, Stacy and Mary. She joins a much larger family in Heaven and I am sure they are enjoying her company today. Judy was the hardest working person I know. She loved music and sitting near her garden in the late evening while she watered it, with her dog and a glass of wine. She also loved to dance, but I was a stick-in-the-mud because I was too shy to join her. Judy was an honest person and could not stand anyone she felt was phony. I think she got that from “Big Mama”. She loved to work in her garden and flower bed. She had more jobs than I can remember and was good at all of them. Judy loved adventure and I never asked her if she wanted to relocate or travel somewhere that she did not say “yes” immediately. She loved to listen to me play music at night when we would be alone. There are so many other things I would love to tell you about Judy, but I hope you get the message about her. I, her husband, her kids and grandkids, her mother, her brothers, her sister, and her brothers and sisters-in-laws from Kentucky, who knew her as Julie, will miss her dearly. Our lives were changed by her and today she is with Jesus helping care for His garden. I told you, Judy was amazing. A visitation will be held at the Vancleave Chapel of Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home on Wednesday, January 29, 2014 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with a recitation of the Rosary at 7:30 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Holy Spirit Catholic Church on Thursday, January 30, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. Friends may visit from 9:30 a.m. until mass time. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations be made to The American Heart Association, P.O. Box 840692 Dallas, TX 75284-0692.