Judith Ann Burgess

Judith Ann Madigan Burgess died on Saturday 06 Dec 2025 at Haven Health in Green Valley, AZ, where she had been cared for since January. Judy lived in Green Valley since 1995, where she moved to help her mother in her final years. She was predeceased earlier this year by her younger brother Clark T. Madigan (1939-2025), of Washington, DC; and by her parents, Harold and Leah Madigan of Green Valley. Judy is survived by her brother Michael S. Madigan of Rowayton, CT; her sons Alexander H. Burgess of Georgia, and Kevin J. and Timothy C. Burgess of Green Valley; her daughters-in-law Aimee Calderone Burgess of Georgia, and Alyssa Mosena Burgess, and daughter-outlaw Nancy Lee, the latter two of Green Valley; Grandchildren, Sean P. (Lauren) Burgess of Maryland, Judith Ariel (Cooper) Burgess of Minnesota, Jonathan D. and Jackson L. Burgess of Green Valley; Mary B. and Harley A. Burgess of Georgia; Nieces Lisa S. (Tony) Madigan-Carey of North Carolina, Leslie A. (Kyle) Keldsen of New Hampshire, Amy L. Madigan of Washington, DC, and Tracey S. Madigan of Vermont; and Great-Nieces and Nephews Hannah Keldsen, Eric Keldsen and Molly Madigan.

Judy was born 22 Sept 1935 in Rochester, New York, the daughter of Harold Vincent Madigan (1901-1980) and Leah Mary (Clark) Madigan (1904-1999). She grew up in the community of Brighton, NY, the town where her immigrant Great-Grandfather Timothy Madigan had settled and prospered, going from a literally penniless laborer to owning a hotel and tavern and being active in local politics. From Brighton she headed to Cornell University, receiving her degree in Home Economics and marrying a hometown man, John E. “Jack” Burgess (1936-2003) on the same day in 1957, it was a busy day as he was commissioned as an officer in the Navy too.She jumped into the adventurous life of a military spouse, moving constantly, joining community theater groups, taking on jobs as a teacher, and raising three sons. The truth of that life was that as you got settled you knew that you would be moving again. She and Jack moved thirteen times between 1957 and 1977, including a year living in Japan with baby Kevin. As time went by, they thought of Coronado, CA and Washington, DC as their Navy “homes”, since they were posted twice to each place, buying a home in Chevy Chase, MD a Washington suburb, in ’69. They bought a house to try to set down roots as Jack was expected to return to Washington as his career progressed, and he was. Along the way she traveled both with family, driving across country between postings, as well as going camping or taking a side-trip as a couple to Europe, or Singapore and Hong Kong.

When her marriage ended in divorce while living in Chevy Chase, Judy took stock and shifted her goals by going to work and going back to college. Her love of math lead her to take a job with the, then Big Eight, Accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand (now PWC). Starting as a clerk she worked hard and took night classes in accounting, getting first her AA from Montgomery College in Maryland, then her M.B.A. from George Washington University in 1986. She continued to work for Coopers until 1995, when their attempts to retire her early coincided with her mother Leah’s need for additional help to remain in her Green Valley home.

As she succeeded in her education and work goals, Judy continued to explore her lifelong love of travel. Sometimes trips were combined with her love of stitchery, such as going to Denmark and neighboring countries around attending a needlepoint conference. She visited Europe and Southeast Asia each several times. Sometimes she traveled with her mother Leah, sometimes with friends or family. On a trip in 1986 to visit her first grandchild in Germany, she and her mother flew on the Concorde. They gleefully said that her mother had grown up with horse-drawn streetcars and trains and lived to fly faster than the speed of sound. Countries they traveled to together included Portugal, Sweden, Germany, and France, as well as countries that her mother had visited in her 1928 pre-marriage “Grand Tour”: England, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.As international travel became more difficult, Judy would travel inside the U.S., driving to visit sons in Maryland, Georgia and California, and taking cruises with family and friends. Along the way she would stop in and visit longtime friends from grade school, college, the Navy life, and so on. She would laugh that those visits allowed her to stay in touch and travel more affordably, and of course it helped that her address book listed friends in almost every state. She would also admit that adding more waystops broke up long solo drives into manageable segments. In retirement she also returned to college, again, getting a Bachelors and then a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona. This allowed her to pursue the art degree that she had always wanted, and to spend a semester abroad in Tuscany. Learning was for her a lifelong joy.Judy grew up thinking of herself as being Irish, hearing family stories of her grandparents and great grandparents facing discrimination and other challenges as they assimilated into America. Yet her story, as many are, is more nuanced. Yes, her father’s Madigan family is Irish, her paternal Great Grandparents were: Timothy Madigan, son of Dennis Madigan and Brigid McMahon of Shanagolden, County Limerick; Anna Neville, daughter of Morgan Neville and Mary Fitzgerald from Ballylongford, County Kerry; Thomas McAnarney and Mary Ann Smyth, from Dromore, County Down, (northern) Ireland.

On Judy’s mother Leah’s side, Judy’s grandparents trace in two directions, her maternal side to New Brunswick, Canada (NB) and thence to Scotland and Ireland; and her paternal side to Colonial New England. Leah’s maternal Great Grandparents (Judy’s Great-Great Grandparents) raised their families in New Brunswick, Canada. They were: Adolphus McIntosh and Ann MacIntosh, both born in Scotland; and daughter of Timothy Coughlan and Catherine Sisk (we think), Catherine was born in NB (possibly of French-Canadian heritage), Timothy in Ireland. Leah’s paternal Great-Grandparents were James Clark and Temperance Hatch, of Whitefield, Maine; and Charles Glidden and Irene Moody, both also of Whitefield, Maine. All of those families trace back to Colonial Maine (to when it was a part of Massachusetts) as far as the late 1600s. Their families settled in Maine when it was on the frontier of European settlement. Other branches trace as far back as the great migration wave in the 1640’s in Massachusetts. All of this history had been uncovered partly through family records and stories, but also through the work of her ex-husband Jack before their divorce. Ironically, he too was raised to think of himself as being of Irish heritage, yet his family also traced back to Colonial New England on the maternal side. Despite both having over 12 generations in the Americas, no common ancestors were found.

Judy Burgess was above all else a character. She was an extrovert who loved to learn, travel to interesting places, to try new foods, and share all of that with everyone she met. Even as her eyesight faded and memories of today were challenging, she could pick up an old book or look at a work of art and talk at length about it, recounting memories related to the art or artist. She could also be introverted, enjoying time working on needlework, reading, or listening to music.A Celebration of Life and inurnment will be held Saturday February 28th at St. Francis-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church, in Green Valley, starting at 11AM, with a reception following in the parish hall. Family and friends are welcome, please bring your best Judy stories as we share her joy of life and our fond memories.