Tribute

Judy was born to Adele and Raymond James Clipperton on September 13, 1944. As our parents often told us, Judy was one of a kind, not cut from an ordinary bolt of cloth. As an adult she stood 4’8” and weighed in at 100 lbs sopping wet, but she was a woman of spirit and fierce determination.

After graduating from Dixon Lake High School, Crystal Springs SK, Judy accepted a scholarship to the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario to study General Arts. Following her time in Ontario, and a brief sojourn in Quebec, Judy returned to Regina where she worked at the 4th-Dimension coffee house (the 4-D) and Harmony Music, for a number of years.

Leaving the city behind, Judy’s next move was to Silton SK where she tended massive garden plots and raised goats, pigs and rabbits, baked bread, and canned homegrown produce. A highlight of her time there was having her first niece, Christine, come to visit. Judy was excited at the visit and proud to introduce Christine to real goat’s milk, “from a real goat!” In 1976 Judy’s sister Barb and her children Diane and Michael moved to Silton and lived with Judy for several months, though this time only helped them decide that rural life was not for them.

In the late ‘70s Judy returned to Regina and joined the staff at SFIC, Saskatchewan Federated Indian College, now known as FNU, First Nations University. As Admin. Assistant to the Professor of Indian Studies and working in Student Services Judy soon realized this was the job she had wanted all her life. Working with new students, helping them get settled and choose their courses, Judy became unofficial den mother to the children she never had. Over her 20+ years at SFIC she became life-long friends with many of the staff and students. One issue of the college magazine celebrated her with an article entitled “Every office needs a Judy Clipperton”.

In the fall of 1997 she was diagnosed with late stage cancer and, true to form, chose to fight it with every treatment that was offered. She beat the odds and while never fully regaining the strength to return to work, she did survive almost 24 years.

Following the long battle with cancer, Judy and her brother Richard purchased a home in the Okanagan Valley community of Oliver, BC. Judy could now enjoy milder winters in Oliver and spend summers in Regina, while Richard would fish the Okanagan lakes in summer and return to Regina for the winter.

In 2015 Judy made her one and only transatlantic flight to England to attend Christine’s wedding. Seeing Buckingham Palace, the British Museum, and the Tower of London was something Judy never dreamed would happen and she relished every moment. While in Oliver hospital in her final week, she loved to tell the nurses about the amazing time she had, especially about how everyone was so kind to the “elderly aunt” from Canada.

Judy passed away peacefully on May 15, 2021, at the age of 76. She was predeceased by her parents, Adele and Raymond James Clipperton, infant brother Raymond John, and brother-in-law Don McGraw. She is survived by sisters Margaret (Donald) Leman, Barbara McGraw, and brother Richard Clipperton, as well as niece Christine Leman-Riley (John), niece Diane Vineham (Ricky), nephew Michael Pusch, and many cousins.