Page 60 - LBHS Reunion Album V3
P. 60

Judith Davis Wigdortz



                   I  am  a  true  “Jersey  Girl!”    After  graduating  from  Montclair  State,  with  a  degree  in
                   English (as a result of the inspiration of the most amazing teacher I have ever met, Edna
                   Ross), I married Larry Wigdortz (APHS ’62) and started teaching at Ocean Township
                   HS.  Interestingly, we rented our first apartment on West End Ave, and Carol Christopher
                                th
                   Quirk (my 10  grade English teacher) and her husband were our landlords!

                   In 1973 our son, Brett, was born (my second son, Evan, was born in 1978) and I quit
                   teaching  to    become    a  full  time  mom.    However,  I  soon  realized  that  I  missed  the
                   classroom and, when I was offered a position to teach part-time at Monmouth Regional
                   HS,  I  grabbed  it  and  stayed  there  for  27  years.      During  my  time  there,  I  created  a
                   Humanities/AP  course,  got  two  MAs  and,  also,  became  very  involved  in  Holocaust
                   education.

                   In 1987, I was awarded a grant to spend five weeks studying in Israel, with educators
                   from around the world, an experience that changed me in so many ways.  At 55, I decided
                   to  retire  from  MRHS  and  move  on  to  teaching  English  at  Monmouth  University.    In
                   2001,  Brett  moved  to  London  (after  living  in  Jakarta  and  Singapore)  so  having  a
                   university schedule allowed us to travel (especially many times to the UK after our first
                   granddaughter was born in 2006).  Tragically, however, Larry developed a neurological
                   disease that resulted in his death, at 67, in 2011.  We had been married 42 years and I had
                   never been alone.

                   However, teaching at MU, traveling, weekly calls to Sharon Golden Cohen and my five

                   grandchildren (three in London and two in Eatontown) have helped me to adjust to a new
                   stage of my life.   I am still living in Monmouth County and still truly appreciate this
                   amazing area!
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