BATH – Judith Francis Robinson Holbrook LeMoine, “Judy”, passed away peacefully on Oct. 6, 2023, in Chapel Hill, N.C., after many years with Alzheimer’s. Her five children and 12 grandchildren survive her. Judy was born on Jan. 21, 1937, in Utah to Doreen Robinson Holbrook. Judy was a loving mother and grandparent, a world traveler, a nurse, a friend to many, and extra silly and fun. Judy’s mother, Doreen, returned to her home state of Maine when Judy was a toddler. Doreen married Paul Holbrook, who became a father to Judy for her lifetime. Judy went to school from K-12 in Bath, Maine, and met Richard (Dick) LeMoine in kindergarten. Judy and Dick became great friends in kindergarten and remained so for life. In fact, Dick’s mother, Wanda LeMoine, often told the story of how Dick came home from kindergarten one day and said that “he had met someone he loved more than God, Judy Holbrook.” He told his mother that he would marry Judy Holbrook someday. And Dick did just that.

Judy and Dick were married in secret because Dick was still attending Maine Maritime Academy in 1958, just after Judy graduated as an RN from Nursing School at the Maine Medical Center. Judy and Dick had their first child (Paul) in 1959 – when Dick was still at the Maine Maritime Academy. In the following 60 years of marriage, Judy and Dick had 4 more children (Julie, Rick, Fred, and Sarah) while they lived in the US, Singapore, the Philippines, and Hong Kong. In 1967, Judy, Dick and their growing family moved to Singapore. This move was the start of many international adventures and over 22 years of living in Southeast Asia. Upon Dick’s retirement, they moved home to Maine and were reunited with relatives and childhood friends. After happy years in Bath, Dick and Judy moved to Virginia to be closer to Sarah, who helped care for them for many years. When Dick’s cancer became terminal, they moved to North Carolina near their son Fred. Judy made great friends during her years in these assisted living and nursing homes. Fred’s daily visits brought Judy loving companionship, smiles, and close connection to her family until she passed.

Besides her love of travel and adventure – Judy was a good athlete and smart, playing softball, basketball, and cheerleading at Morse High and was her class’s salutatorian. She loved poetry and swimming. Even in her 80s, she would jump into the frigid water of Charles’ Pond with her grandchildren. She was musical – playing piano and often to the laughter of her five children, the ukulele, and the kazoo. She made up stories and sang often. She delighted in the cabin that Dick and her kids built atop a high seaside hill in Five Islands, Maine where she and her family spent decades of happy summers boating, eating lobster, slapping mosquitoes, and hosting friends. Judy and Dick won costume parties, danced at balls, and hobnobbed with ambassadors and shipping tycoons. They went to many faraway places and did things that most only dream of such as riding camels in the desert or paddling Bangkas (Filipino canoes) under giant waterfalls in the jungle. She took cooking lessons from the wife of a Singaporean President and yet, loved a McDonald’s cheeseburger and chocolate shake. Judy always treated the elderly, the young, and those in need with great kindness. She was one of the first to hold babies with AIDS when others shunned them and kept her Maine hummingbirds fed. She raised her children all over the world and taught them to be smart, honest, citizens of the world and to be honorable, charitable, loving, accepting, and kind.

She lived a full life and was loved by many but none more than her immediate family, to whom she was most dear. Her journey will end in Bath where she will be laid to rest next to her husband Dick in the family plot in Oak Grove Cemetery.

The family plans a memorial for the summer of 2024. Condolences may be made online at http://www.DaigleFuneralHome.com.