Birth date: Oct 19, 1936 Death date: Aug 20, 2025
William C. Judkins, 88, passed away peacefully in his sleep from natural causes on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, just a few weeks short of his 89th birthday. Known to friends as both Bill and “Jud”, he was a life long resident of Sy Read Obituary
Deepest Sympathy to Bill, Chris and Tierza.
I have great memories of you kids because I was your babysitter for a 1 year or more when I was going to school at H.W. Smith Jr high. Your parents were wonderful taking me home after their 2 and 3 shift jobs. Your parents work very hard to make sure you were takingcare of. I will never forget the great dane pushing everyone around the house.
So,Sorry
Deborah Gannon
My grandfather was a very sweet guy and I always loved to spend time with him. He lived almost all of his life in Syracuse NY, where he had a long & colorful career as a Captain with the city Police Department.
As a kid in the 1930s, his father worked as a traveling oil salesman & the family travelled around the country full time - he compared his childhood to the film "Paper Moon". He said he saw 46 of our 50 states between 1936 and 1941 when the family settled in Syracuse so he could start elementary school. At one point they spent time in California watching the filming of "They Died With their Boots On (Raoul Walsh, 1941) thanks to a family friend who was working on the film as a Sound Technician.
He had many happy memories of growing up in Syracuse, such as attending all day movie matinees with his friends from school on the weekends. He also saw some great concerts, I was particularly envious when he told me he saw the full Spike Jones orchestra play Syracuse as a kid in the mid 1940s! He was very fond of Yo-Yos and when I was a kid he could still do some pretty impressive tricks with them. He was also an animal lover and always owned dogs of some sort, usually huge Great Danes with Germanic names.
He had a tough time with mobility in the last decade or so of his life, which made me and my wife Lauren extra happy that he was able to attend our wedding in Queens in 2023, and our show at Riley's in Syracuse last Spring, which wound up being the last time I saw him. In 2023 he gave me his wedding band from his 1959 marriage to my late Grandmother, which I will always treasure. RIP 💕
