Judy E. Teuscher – Bowman Funeral Directors (2025)

On July 23, 1947, Judy Evans Teuscher, the eighth of eleven children, was born to Jack and Gladys Evans in Downey, Idaho. She and her twin brother, Jack, whom they had not anticipated, were small and somewhat sickly during their first year of life. Family and neighbors wondered if one or both babies might be “given back” at any point. Life on the Downey Flats was primitive and rough. In 1955, the family moved to Malad, Idaho, and bought the Oneida Grocery Store. Judy lived, worked, and went to school in Malad until she graduated high school at age 17. Following graduation, she packed her belongings in her cedar chest, set out for Boise in her ’55 Chevy, which she had bought for $100 from her brother, Norman. She had secured a job with Joe Williams, State Auditor. Even until the day she passed, she could out-type any one of us on her iPhone.

In 1965, Judy met the man who would become the love of her life and eventually take her hand from this life into Eternity. Judy married Reed Teuscher on August 3, 1966 in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple, and they began a fun and adventurous life together. Before starting their family, they enjoyed adventures in their baby blue ’67 fastback Mustang. Our mom fondly remembered that time, particularly how sad she was to sell the car once they started their family. After several small apartments in the Boise area, they settled in Eagle, Idaho, where they raised a brood of six strong-willed children on Riverview Street, along the Boise River. Being a mom was everything she wanted, even when she was too frazzled with six kids under ten to remember that fact. She sewed matching dresses for the girls and cut all the kids’ hair until all six of us ended up with the same haircut, and she was praised for raising a darling bunch of boys. She made life on Riverview an adventure. With Dry Creek running adjacent to our backyard, she played right alongside us kids and led us through the creek bottoms to the Boise River. We spent countless days along the banks of the Boise River with our mom. As her children grew, she held various jobs, including working at a greenhouse in Eagle, customer service at Hewlett Packard, and as a “lunch lady” in the Eagle schools for many years. She made many little friends who knew her as Miss Judy.

Our mother was the driving force behind every adventure our family undertook, with our dad often an unwilling participant. For example, the many Halloween costumes he was wrangled into wearing, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. She truly was the heartbeat of our family. As each of us kids started families of our own, she planned Memorial and Labor Day camping trips, made chili, homemade donuts, and witches’ brew for Halloween. Grandpa and Grandma hosted many cousin sleepovers, where she provided their favorite meal of wiener wraps and tater-tots. Grandma and Grandpa’s house was the place where each grandchild wanted to be.

Following retirement, our parents traveled the world and saw things that we are certain changed who they were. They served an 18-month LDS mission in Sydney, Australia, where they made many friends with whom they continued to travel and keep in contact until our mother’s passing. As siblings, we have had the opportunity to reminisce on how, during our parents’ lifetimes, they witnessed the advent of electricity in homes, the evolution of phones from switchboards to pocket computers, and embraced each new advancement with excitement. Our mom was an iPhone whiz and loved to FaceTime.

Our mother was a woman of courage, compassion, and empathy for those around her. She had an unwavering testimony of family and her Savior. She served her community with love and without judgment. She loved each child and grandchild unconditionally and strived to meet them on their terms. In the last three months, she flew or drove to each of her children’s and grandchildren’s homes. She has sewn or crocheted countless grandbaby and great-grandbaby blankets, which each of us treasures.

Early Sunday morning, while resting in her home of 49 years, surrounded by the sounds and smells of her beautiful yard and the crickets and Dry Creek around her, our dad greeted her and took her hand into Eternity. Be comforted in knowing that she was ready to meet her Savior, and her passing was peaceful.

We would like to offer a special thank you to the aides, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, physicians, and all other caregivers at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. They walked this journey beside her every step of the way, showing the utmost love and respect for our mom. The opportunity to bring our mom home was a direct result of the professional intuition of a particular provider in the days leading up to her release from Huntsman. Thanks to this compassionate guidance, our mom was able to be in her home, surrounded by the things that mattered most to her before leaving this earth, and we are forever grateful for that.

Our mother was preceded in death by her sweet husband Reed, her son Brad, her parents, four brothers, two sisters, and other friends she held as close as family. She is survived by her sweet little dog, Finley, her beloved children Mark, Mary Aldrich (Jeremy), Amy Paul (John), Sally Larsen (Cody), Scott, Lindy Osborn (Scott), 17 grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren, three brothers and one sister.

A viewing will be held at Bowman Funeral Parlor on Thursday, August 15, 2024, from 6-8 p.m. The services will be held on Friday, August 16, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. with a viewing prior, 10:00-11:30am, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel, 2090 North Eagle Road, Eagle, Idaho.