We celebrate the life of Al Judd, whose service to Rowe Camp will long be remembered. Born in 1925, Al first came to Rowe in 1938 and spent several happy summers here, followed by three years in the Army during World War II. While attending college and divinity school, Al summered at Rowe Camp as a counselor, a staff member, and the camp manager. He graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1949, got his Bachelor of Divinity degree, and was ordained as a Unitarian in 1952 and as a Universalist in 1956. In 1958, he became registrar and continued in that position until 1970.
Al was committed to children and youth programs throughout his life and only accepted calls to churches that shared his vision of excellence in Religious Education. His strong vision of social justice animated his life, he long advocated for health care for Unitarian and Universalist professionals, and Rowe remains an important part of his life and a symbol of his core values.
He was a fine pastoral minister who is remembered fondly as a man of moderation, goodwill, good humor, insight, and extraordinary kindness, enjoying the one-on-one connections with every member. Shortly before his 82nd birthday, he died of a heart attack, having served six churches in his long career. At his memorial service, the Reverend Dr. Stephen H. Furrer said, “By their fruits shall ye know them, and the fruits of Al’s life were sweet and nourishing and filled with seeds that will bear more fruit in the years and generations to come.”
Al’s daughter Karen, known as Judd, was a camper and staffer at Rowe in the 1960s, finding solace and laughter here at a time when life was very intense. Last year she came to visit and was flooded with memories of her father and decided to do something to honor his memory. She felt that creating a memorial that would offer significant help to the camp would honor her father’s deep connection with Rowe and his long-standing ministry to children and youth.
The idea of building a cabin in Al’s memory felt like a perfect way to honor and memorialize his ministry and to help sustain the Woodside Program, an idea Judd knows her father would have appreciated. The Woodside Diversity program was established in 1999 to reflect the richness of the diversity of American culture in the camp. It provides a unique and meaningful experience for young people who might otherwise be unable to come to Rowe, while enriching the experience of all campers by exposing them to diverse cultures.
The program, which provided camp scholarships for 11 children in 1999, now provides for 26 children, with the ultimate goal of offering camp experiences to 40 children each year (10 in each of the Rowe youth camps). The program is unique in that recipients continue to be a part of the Rowe Camp Community from the time they are nine until they graduate from high school, an ambitious and costly program and the camp has been looking for creative ways to sustain this program over time.
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The One Thousand Pieces initiative is about remembering Al Judd’s stalwart commitment to the spiritual needs of our young people. Please sponsor one or many pieces of the Cabin at $100 per piece as a simple and loving effort from those who loved Al Judd, or love Rowe Camp, or have a commitment to UU youth. “What a marvelous gesture,” our beloved friend Al Judd would have said. |
The Rev. Alfred D. Judd Memorial would provide a new cabin so there would be space for ten additional campers, so Rowe would no longer have to lose income to provide spaces for Woodside campers. In this way, the cabin will subsidize the Woodside Program for years to come.This House
This house is for the ingathering of nature and human nature.
It is a house of friendships, a haven in trouble, an open room for the encouragement of our struggle.
It is a house of freedom, guarding the dignity and worth of every person.
It offers a platform for the free voice, for declaring, both in times of security and danger, the full and undivided conflict of opinion.
It is a house of truth-seeking, where scientists can encourage devotion to their quest,
where mystics can abide in a community of searchers.
It is a house of prophecy, out running times of past and times present in visions of growth and progress.
This house is a cradle for our dreams, the workshop of our common endeavor.
Reverend Kenneth L. Patton
There are One Thousand Pieces in this Cabin,
a Vision of Remembering Al in a way that Reflects his Values,
a Dream of Continuing the Woodside Diversity Program at Rowe Camp and Conference Center.
Please contribute to this memorial initiative to build this cabin at Rowe and to remember Al:
Each Donation of $100 becomes a Piece of the Dream.