Judith K. Mckee

Judith Pemberton McKee

Elmira NY. Judith McKee, passed away June 9th, 2022 with her family by her side at the Arnot Hospital in Elmira, NY. She was born a coal miner’s daughter in Linton, Indiana on February 6th, 1942. Originally named Judith Kay Cox, she was raised by her mother Dorothy Cox, her siblings, and her mother’s parents Cora and Oliver McKee in the small town of Marion, Indiana and on the grand parent’s nearby farm.

Following graduation of High School in 1960, she attended University of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill where she was certified as a Dental Assistant. She then returned to Indiana and married her High School sweet heart E. Hugh Pemberton in 1962 taking his name (Judith Pemberton), and she then worked as a Dental Assistant in Lexington, IN, while he attended Purdue University pursuing a degree as an Engineer.

Upon Hugh’s graduation they moved to Toledo, Ohio where she raised two children Anthony Pemberton (b.1966), and Shawn Pemberton (b.1970) as homemaker and occasionally working as a dental/oral surgeon’s assistant and a Montessori School teacher of Arts and Sciences. As a mother and “homemaker” as she liked to called herself, she was quick to invent interesting activities for the kids, engage in gourmet cooking and clubs, as well as accepting the myriad of cats and other pets. Summers with the family were also spent at the lakes in North Webster Indiana water-skiing, fishing, and exploring.

She moved in 1984 to Elmira, NY when Hugh started a job as president of Powers Manufacturing. Later she moved to Hartford, Connecticut for about 4 years, but after the divorce with Hugh in 1991, she moved back to Elmira, NY returned to school at Elmira College studying Psychology and Biology to rec

eive a BA in 1997 with an emphasis on Early Childhood Development/Education/Science. Her goal was to always look to children and the philosophy of children for hope and new ideas. On these ideas, her poems are published in the International World Peace Journal. In Elmira, NY she taught as a substitute teacher for 10 years at the Devin Elementary School, and later worked with Caregivers as a Certified Home Health Aide helping the elderly with end-of-life issues, she was always someone who could cheer them up, and stir their thoughts.

She was a friend and mentor to many from all walks of life, being incredibly generous with her time and resources. Her pastimes included her membership in the Chemung Valley Audubon Society, and volunteering at the Mount Savior Monastery, Tanglewood Nature Center, the Arnot Art Museum, and Hospice.

She is survived by her two son’s Shawn Pemberton, an Independent Contractor (Home Improvement) who lives in Lowman, NY with his wife Kristina Pemberton and Anthony Pemberton, a filmmaker and professor who started a Film School at Montclair State University who lives in Montclair, NJ, and his wife Kaitlyn Plum. Judy’s many grandchildren Dusty Pemberton, Xavier Seymour, Basil Pemberton, Quin Pemberton and her sister Janice Richards, brother John Cox and their many children and grandchildren: John Cox, Jeff Cox, Jill Cox, Justina Richards, Jeneane Richards, Jeneasa Richards, and Jennifer Richards.

A sitting / visit will happen at the Olthof Funeral Home, 1050 Penna. Ave. in Elmira, NY on June 23rd 2022 at 10:00am-12:00pm, and the internment happen at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, 563 Jerusalem Hill Rd., Elmira at 1pm the same day.

Those who wish to remember Judith Pemberton McKee in a special way may make gifts in her memory to The Sierra Club https://www.sierraclubfoundation.org/

Or, she would like to ask you to plant an extra White Rose Bush, or a tree or trees of any kind in her honor.