Toward the end, Judy reflected that she had lived a full life. She spoke about how much she had loved her work, helping people, and making people feel good. Those simple thoughts captured much of what had defined her life.

Judy was an artist, entrepreneur, piano teacher, floral designer, lifelong learner, and devoted wife and mother. Through her businesses, Country Hideaway, Floral Tapestry, and Fabulous Flowers by Judith, she used her remarkable eye for beauty to create flowers, gifts, weddings, celebrations, and spaces that made people feel special. She took up painting in 2008, and it became one of the great joys of her life, a passion she pursued almost to the end. Her paintings were exhibited in galleries and shows throughout Utah. In 2022, she created nearly 50 LGBTQ-themed paintings for a Pride Month exhibition at Trolley Square. The exhibition’s centerpiece was her most significant work, the 12-by-4-foot painting “Colors of Liberty,” created with her daughter Allyson, which reflected Judy’s longstanding commitment to LGBTQ acceptance and inclusion.

She was an exceptional cook and delighted in making wonderful meals for her family. Holidays were never ordinary in Judy’s home. She transformed them with decorations, food, music, and traditions her children still remember and actively carry on.

She and her husband, Steven, have known each other since childhood and shared nearly six decades of marriage. They married on January 3, 1969. A treasured 5th grade class photograph shows the two of them standing next to each other as children, long before either could have imagined the life they would build together.

Their four children, Jelisa, Allyson, Steven and David, were at the center of Judy’s life. She became affectionately known as “Mother Goose,” or simply “The Goose,” a nickname embraced by family and many friends. In an autobiographical artwork she created in 2006, she called them simply “my children, my jewels,” described her life with Steven as “my happy, beautiful marriage,” and called him her “devoted husband.”

Judy’s generosity extended well beyond her immediate family and she had a particular affection for people who felt overlooked or needed encouragement. She described herself as a “champion of the underdog.” She seemed instinctively aware of whatever in the world around her needed care. If she noticed a plant wilting, she wanted to water it; she brought that same attentiveness to people and other living things. She encouraged people, wrote countless thoughtful cards and letters, welcomed people into her home, and found particular joy in helping those who needed support or a sense of belonging. As the mother of a gay son, Judy developed deep ties to Salt Lake City’s gay community, opening her home and heart to young people who needed acceptance, encouragement, or sometimes a safe place to stay. Looking back on helping them, she said, “It was a great pleasure of mine.”

Gratitude, forgiveness, learning, beauty, and spirituality were central to Judy’s life. Near the end, she described the way she tried to live: “I just go about being happy, trying to help other people be happy, and trying to spread happiness. I think that’s what I do.”

She is survived by her loving husband, Steven D. Peterson; her four children, Jelisa Peterson, Allyson Sweeney (John J. Sweeney III), Steven Peterson Jr., and David Peterson; her four grandchildren, John Joseph Sweeney IV, Charlotte Tiana Sweeney, Lleyton Peterson, and Sawyer Peterson; her sisters, Jayne Blair and Jackie Johnson; and her brother, James C. Blair III. She was preceded in death by her parents, James C. Blair Jr. and Reva Brown Blair, and her siblings, Jana Blair and John Blair.

A Celebration of Life honoring Judy will be held in the near future. In lieu of flowers, the family invites donations in Judy’s memory to Equality Utah and UAF Legacy Health.

Condolences may be shared at: www.aaronsmortuary.com