Judy Norene French

Judy Norene French Judy French, 77, passed on November 23, 2022, in Amarillo, TX. At her request, no funeral or memorial will take place. Judy was born on August 25, 1945, in Pampa, TX. She was a baby boomer as World War 2 was ending. When she was 6 years old, she moved to Sundown, TX where she considered to be the “Dust Bowl” of Texas and distinctly remember walking to school as sand pellets her legs. At 14 years old and just finished 8th grade, she decided to leave home and join convent in Panhandle, TX and finish her high school education. She worked in the children’s and nursing home. Mother Superior offered Judy the opportunity to send her to nursing school in Amarillo. In 1968, she was in the first class of the nursing program offered at Amarillo College. In 1970, she graduated the nursing program, and she was to return to the convent but unfortunately for Mother Superior, she decided she was not going back to the convent. At that time, her parents lived in Hobbs, NM and she had a one-way bus ticket with only $75. She lived with her parents for a few weeks and got a job at the local hospital and was able to save enough money to buy a Pontiac Super Sport which she said that car could fly. She admitted she had quite a few speeding tickets. She shared her nursing experiences in Lubbock and Amarillo working as a night nurse, intensive care, and supervisor. Judy attempted a pursuit of nursing in Alaska and her travels on the Alaskan Highway during the start of winter. Judy found there was already an overabundance of nurses and there was not any job positions available except in a remote village. They mentioned they could only check on her every couple of months or so. But that wasn’t for Judy, so she moved back to Lubbock, Texas with her two dogs. She participated in the first kidney transplant in a county hospital in Lubbock. She worked at the VA for 10 years in intensive care, and 5 years in the psyche unit and then pursued traveling nursing. Judy was offered an opportunity to become a full-time live-in nanny, but she wanted her freedom back after a year and worked in rehabilitation and was a certified scuba diver and was aware of hyperbaric treatments. Judy established the first hyperbaric chamber in Amarillo where she was free to create her own policy and procedures. Judy pursued her endeavors in pottery, owning her own petting farm, jewelry making, glass and yarn crafts, and loved gardening. Judy enjoyed learning about history. Judy had obtained guardianship of her niece and nephew after her brother passed away. Judy finished her nursing career in hospice and hyperbarics. She is preceded in death by her parents, mother Georgie Scott and husband Joseph; father Marvin French; brother Russell Scott; sister, Barbara Alexander and husband John; uncle Wayne Reeve and wife Virginia; nephew Ronald (RJ) Withrow. Judy was survived by her niece, Chelsie Haney and husband Devin and daughter Elizabeth of Amarillo, TX and nephew Joseph Scott and wife Leah and daughter Annabelle of Pierce, CO; sister-in-law Bernadette Joule of Amarillo, TX; cousin Mickey Reeve of Soldotna, Alaska; cousin Randy Reeve of Soldotna; and cousin Steve Reeve of La Porte, TX.

Arrangements provide by Holley Funeral Home, Canyon, TX.

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