Judith Widen Obituary

Widen, Judith Wilson

Judith Emily Berg Wilson Widen, born October 6, 1937, died in her apartment at the Merion in Evanston, Illinois on Saturday morning, May 18, 2024, after a brave battle with breast cancer. Judy played many roles in her lifetime - teacher, insurance executive, community organizer, wife, mother, grandmother. But she will be remembered not for what she did, but for how she made people feel. Judy let everyone around her know that they were heard, seen, loved, cared about, and supported. Everyone who knew her wanted to spend more time with Judy.

Judy was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Her father, Ernest "Ernie" Berg, was the General Manager of the Fort Wayne Daisies, one of the original member teams in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, better known to most people by the movie "A League of Their Own." Judy loved telling her children and grandchildren stories of growing up going to games and getting to know legendary players. After she retired, Judy would attend reunions, teach classes and write articles about the AAGPBBL and her experiences.

Judy had a lifelong love of books, poetry, theater and literature. She moved to Chicago in 1960 to study for her master's degree in English at Northwestern. At Northwestern, Judy met and married her first husband, Jeremy Wilson, then a Ph.D. student at Northwestern. In the early 60's, she taught English at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook. One of her students went on to win a Tony Award and whenever he saw Judy at the theater, he would introduce her to his friends exclaiming "I want you to meet Miss Berg, my favorite teacher of all time!"

Judy and Jeremy had two sons, Chris and Gavin, and Judy settled into life as an Evanston mom, dedicating hundreds of hours to the Orrington School PTA and dozens of political campaigns and community initiatives. After a decade at home raising a family, Judy returned to work to help a fledgling health care provider take root in the northern suburbs. Within a few years North Care became the first federally-qualified HMO in the State of Illinois. By the 1980's, Judy was the Marketing Director with a staff of dozens of people. When she retired, Judy had become one of the most senior women health care executives in the country, serving as head of HMO Marketing for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Network.

At North Care, Judy met her husband of forty years, Arnold Widen. Together they shared a love of travel, music, politics, and lively dinner parties. They also shared a love of Door County, where they built their dream home that became a summer destination for their extended families, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Judy and Arnie gave tirelessly to the local chamber music organization, Door County Midsummer's Music, even boarding musicians at their home each summer.

Judy was forever passionate about community service and politics. She served as the President of the Evanston Chapter of the League of Women Voters, was a member of the Evanston Plan Commission and served on countless civic and charitable boards. She was a lifelong Democrat and spent thousands of hours organizing neighborhood caucuses, door-knocking campaigns, and get-out-the-vote efforts for many, many candidates and campaigns, but most of all, for her personal favorite, Congressman Abner Mikva. To Judy, Election Day was a holy day of obligation. One of her final regrets was that she might not be able to vote one more time for "Joe and Kamala."

It was through her community work that Judy made some of her most lasting friendships. Together with four friends, they formed a group affectionately known as "The Quints" that got together regularly to discuss all that was right and wrong with the world, traveling to New York to take in a Broadway show or to Europe for a girls-only trip.

After Arnie passed away in April 2022, Judy moved to the Merion where she quickly became a fixture in the social and cultural activities of the building. Judy would tell everyone "I love it here" and you could not walk the hallways or lobby with her without running into a new friend and confidante. At the Merion, Judy met Harry Hirsch, her close friend and companion, who was with her every day and doctor's appointment until the very end.

Most of all, Judy will be remembered for her warmth and sense of humor. She loved dancing at weddings and lunch with her friends. She loved the Chicago Cubs and swimming any chance she got. She loved spending time with her grandchildren and was always interested in what they were doing, who they were dating, and how they were feeling. And she was happiest when she could shock a dinner table full of 20 year-olds into laughter with a tale about an intimate relationship or a surprisingly risqué comment. We are all better people for having known and loved Judy. She made our lives richer, smarter, more meaningful and much, much funnier. We will miss her very much.

Judy is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Bonnie and Chad MacDowell, her sons and their wives, Chris and Jodi, and Gavin and Stella, her stepchildren, Claire (Dan and Lisa), Mark, Brent (Sabine) and Jeanne (Rodolfo), fifteen grandchildren, Katarina (Cody Crook), Jordan, Alex, Hunter, Mariel (Chris Watters), Carolyn, Tanya, Sofia, Isabel, Sebastian, Jack, Samuel, Shalev, Asher, and Remez; and four great grandchildren, Roscoe, Theia, Amelia and Zoe.

A memorial service in Judy's honor will be held at 11:00am on June 7, 2024 at the Unitarian Church of Evanston, 1330 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, Illinois 60201. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Mikva Challenge, www.mikvachallenge.org, or, if you are so inclined, we are sure Judy would want you to contribute to Biden-Harris 2024. She would also want us to remind you that Election Day is November 5, 2024, but you might consider an absentee ballot just in case.

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