Judy Marie Sears

Celebration of life services for Judy Sears will be held on Monday, December 18, 2023, at 1:00pm at MMS-Payne Funeral Home Chapel. Judy passed away on Saturday, December 9, 2023, she was 74.

On a cold winters night she was the first of 5 children born to Gene and Peggy Tucker in the small riverside town of Helena, Arkansas.      

Judy’s earliest memories were of being surrounded by music. She played the flute and piccolo, three sisters added horns to the mix and mom played the guitar. Wherever we went, the Tucker’s were ready to join in with laughter and song. Dad, on the other hand, had only an appreciation for the guitar. That is until Judy brought the house down at the Senior Concert. Dad’s applause led the audience for several minutes of appreciation.                                                                                                                                

Humility and adversity molded her. Love empathy and forgiveness defined her. As a mom she was fearlessly  protective of her daughter.  It was once said she was truly color blind to race. As a head start teacher in the Deep South there were many challenges, but then, as now, the children always came first. Her decision to provide primary day care to her grandchildren is a perfect example.                                                                                                                                                                                

Met David Sears in New Port, Arkansas. Graduated from Eastern Arkansas Community College and Arkansas State University as the first Tucker to graduate from college, afterward moved to Oklahoma in 1992.  Worked in Corporate America until the operation closed. Always the teacher, she then removed herself from the job market to provide primary day care to her grandchildren. She traveled, always wanting to see new places and things. The best job she ever had was a water aerobics instructor. The class and her friends were everything. Everyone had the same problems and collectively solved them as a true sisterhood.    

Judy is survived by her husband, Paul D. Sears, sister, Virginia Smith of Memphis TN,    daughter, Dianna Lynn Wiggs and son in Law, Scott Wiggs, grandson, Colton Wiggs of Stillwater, OK, and granddaughter, Morgan Wiggs Eugene, OR. Judy was preceded in death by parents, R.E Tucker and  Peggy Trucker and sisters, Connie Lodice and Pamela Conway