Judith Elaine Greathouse

Judith is survived by her son, Brendan Matthew Casey and his wife, Jessica; her two loving grandchildren, Daniel Francis Casey and Amelia Sharon Casey; her stepdaughter, Barbara Jean Ball of Folly Beach, SC, Bradley Lewis Ball of Charleston, SC; and many nieces and nephews in California, Idaho and Oregon. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Robert Lewis Greathouse, in 2017.

Raised in Boise, Idaho, Judith was the only one in her family who had the desire to head east. She left Boise to attend Syracuse University in New York state, where she majored in business education. After graduation, she began her career with IBM. While there she held several different positions including; marketing secretary, administrative assistant, marketing representative selling mainframe computers, and administrative manager. After that she was tapped to teach new corporate managers, for which she designed the training for the corporate management school that also included 5 years of video production. Her final position was educational director.

During her career, she and her first husband, who also worked for IBM, traveled all over the eastern United States. During that time she earned her MBA from Pace University in White Plains, NY; her MS in Instruction Performance Technology from Boise State University; and her Ph.D from LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA. She was very grateful for her wonderful career at IBM, which she loved very much. 

Judith retired to Charleston, SC, in 1991, where she met and married her husband, Robert. Besides consulting for IBM she also ran her own computer training business and made commercials for The Computer Store. She also volunteered over 40 hours a week with the VFW's Voice of Democracy, the Patriots Pen, and the American Legion Auxiliary's Palmetto Girls State, a week long program that educates high school junior girls in the political process.

After they moved to Florida she promised Robert that she wouldn't volunteer to that extent. But, she quickly became bored. That is when "Stretchies by Judith" was born. She was inspired to make fashionable jewelry with magnetic closures, stretch rings, and coil bracelets, that could be easily used by customers that had impaired mobility and others as well. True to her belief in education, she attended the New York Institute of Art via the internet and earned a Certified Jewelry Designer degree, which took her two years of intense design work, critiqued by her talented and professional instructors. She traveled throughout the state of Florida attending conventions and conferences, building her loyal customer following in the process. She changed the name of her business to Judith's Jewels, to reflect her enlarged product line, which she continued through 2020.

Judith had to curtail her traveling due to her husband's illness, restricting her business to Citrus County. She was the past president of the Citrus County Craft Council for four years. She was instrumental in enhancing the structure of that organization. Her most important contribution was the implementation of the Council's website, CitrusCountyCraftCouncil.org.

Judith's effervescent spirit, talent and kindness will be missed by all whom she encountered during her most incredible journey through life.