Funeral set for ‘millionaire next door' and his wife
Visitation and the funeral mass for Jim Judson Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth Judson, a Roswell couple killed in a plane crash in Mississippi, will be held Sunday and Monday at Saint Brigid Catholic Church at 3400 Old Alabama Road in Johns Creek.
Visitation will be at 7 p.m. Sunday. The funeral mass will be at noon Monday, followed by a reception at the Roswell Country Club. An e-mail from the family said the events will be closed to the media.
The family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at the church.
The Judsons were well-known in the Atlanta Catholic and philanthropic communities.
They grew rich riding the high-tech wave that transformed north Fulton County.
But friends said that didn’t go to their heads and send the family moving from their upscale neighborhood in the Roswell Country Club to a super-rich gated community. Judson served as announcer at his kids’ soccer games and donated lots of time and money to the Catholic Church. Beth Judson sang in the choir at Saint Brigid.
Said neighbor Christine Baker, “I have a millionaire next door. You’d never know it.”
The Judsons’ charmed life ended suddenly Tuesday morning in an airplane crash in Mississippi, where they’d flown to watch their daughter, Lauren, play in a college golf tournament.
Judson, 52, was piloting his Hawker Beechcraft Bonanza when it took off from Olive Branch, Miss., and crashed in Alcorn County. Officials at the Corinth-Alcorn County Airport said they were notified the plane had disappeared from radar shortly before a tornado warning was issued for the area.
Judson was an experienced, instrument-rated pilot, but continued to take lessons to keep his skills sharp, said his brother, Rob Judson. Jim and his 51-year-old wife were bound for DeKalb Peachtree Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash.
Members of the North Georgia Catholic community went into mourning as news of the Judsons’ death spread.
The Judsons helped launch Saint Brigid. The couple served on boards at Blessed Trinity Catholic High School, which their kids, Lauren and Dean, attended. Beth Judson also was one of the founders of Southern Catholic College in Dawsonville, as well as a member of the board of trustees.
After Jim Judson sold Witness Systems Inc. and became semi-retired, he devoted himself to charity work and helping out at Blessed Trinity, said Principal Frank Moore. He also took a major role on the planning committee for the Atlanta Archdiocese, which is undergoing rapid growth and opening new schools and churches.
“I kept meeting them at almost every turn,” said Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory. “They were extraordinarily involved in the Catholic community of North Georgia.”
Even Gregory noticed the Judsons didn’t put on airs.
“They were people of means,” he said. “But they were always very approachable. They never became enamored by their own success.”
Both Judsons grew up in New York state. She graduated from Alfred University in New York and he went to Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.
After college, Jim Judson worked in sales for data communication equipment manufacturer Rixon Inc., becoming the Southeast regional sales manager, according to a profile on Zoominfo.com. In 1988, along with two friends, he started Witness Systems Inc., which developed and supplied software applications for call centers.
He served as president from 1995 to 1998, as the company grew several times in revenue and personnel. The company had a successful IPO in 2000, Zoominfo.com reported.
The company was part of the high-tech boom that changed north Fulton County by attracting entrepreneurs, providing high salaries and spawning big subdivisions. In a 1999 story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Judson called north Fulton “a little Silicon Valley.”
Witness Systems Inc. is now worldwide with more than 700 employees. When Judson and his friends sold out, they became millionaires.
Beth Judson went to Georgia Tech when the children became involved in school and earned a doctorate in ceramic engineering, the family said. She helped several small technology companies get started and was a member of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, making her part of a team that traveled to universities to review engineering departments for continuing accreditation.
The Judsons could have afforded to move off Windrush Lane but they seemed to like it there. Christine Baker, their neighbor, said the Judsons did hire a landscaper, but Jim would still mow the grass and use the blower.
Her husband, Jeffrey Baker, said Judson expanded his three-car garage into a five-car garage so he could work on cars.
“He put a lift inside,” Baker said. “It was totally geared out.”
Baker said Judson could indulge his eclectic taste in cars, including a 1980s anniversary Corvette, a 1930s Ford Taxi and a 1960s Vista Cruiser station wagon. Judson also repaired his very first car, a 1970s Vega, painted it orange and gave the car to his daughter, Baker said.
“He had quirky taste in cars,” Baker said. “Definitely nostalgic.”
