Judith Hetrick

Judith Ann Reish Hetrick, age 75, passed away from pancreatic cancer in her West Des Moines, Iowa home into the loving, eternal care of her Lord Jesus Christ on Sunday, November 19, 2017. Judy was born on October 25, 1942, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Lowell W. and O. Lorean (Puffinbarger) Reish. She attended Iowa schools in Adel, Lenox, Adair, Baxter, and was a 1960 graduate of Hedrick Community School. From a very young age, Judy knew she wanted to be a registered nurse. In 1963, she graduated from Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, Council Bluffs, Iowa. On September 1, 1963, she was baptized in the Hedrick Presbyterian Church. Judy married Phillip Frank Hetrick of Oakland, Iowa on October 25, 1963. To this union a daughter, Julie Ann, was born March 9, 1965. They later divorced. Judy’s nursing career included the following positions: Director of Nursing, Oakland Manor Nursing Home, Oakland, Iowa; Jennie Edmundson Memorial Hospital Charge Nurse, neurological unit; seventeen years as Administrator and Nurse Supervisor II, Pottawattamie County Public Health Nursing, Council Bluffs, Iowa; Private Duty Administrator, Hawkeye Health Service, Inc, Des Moines, Iowa, Medicare Review Auditor for Wellmark, Inc. (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa), and Cahaba GBA (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama). Judy retired in 2008, and filled her life with the things she loved: family, friends, sending greeting cards, volunteering, travel, museums, genealogy, music, reading, gardening, bird feeding, and donating to charities for children, the elderly, and veterans. In May 2014, she honored her father’s legacy by becoming a member of the Abigail Adams Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.). Judy truly believed the quote, “Life’s Greatest Blessing is the Love of a Family.” She leaves in God’s care: her daughter, Julie, son-in-law, R. Lee Jenkins, and granddaughters, Casady & McKenna Jenkins of Frisco, Texas. Sister, Terri (Tom) Campbell of Hedrick and family: Beth (Bill) Weber, Jarhett, Hudson, & Cedrik Van Engelenhoven; Kristen (David) Blumhagen, Gideon & Josiah; Andrew Campbell. Sister, Cheryl (Mickey) Miller of Hiawatha, Iowa and family: Allison Miller Schwanebeck; Joel and Andrea (Rudd) Miller. Chosen sisters: Diane (Jack) Stogdill, Paulette Clemens, Betty Litton, and Linda Wiley. Judy was preceded in death by her grandparents, Wm. Earl and Ethel Marie (Lingle) Reish; Charles Wesley and Josephine Mae (Jones) Puffinbarger; parents, Lowell W. & O. Lorean Reish, infant sister, Gerri Lynne Reish, and nephew, Joseph Jon Schwanebeck.