Judy (Judith S) Knox, 79, of Bowling Green, Ohio passed away Sunday, September 13, 2020.
Born in Stockton, CA, she was the daughter of Julius and Ruth Schreiber. She graduated from Sidwell Friends School (Washington, DC), Bucknell University and Columbia University School of Social Work. In 1966, ten years after they met in high school, she wed Thomas R Knox.
Trained as a psychiatric social worker, Judy worked at Brooklyn College; the out-patient psychiatric clinic of Yale-New Haven Hospital (while her husband completed his doctoral degree); a mental health clinic in Dayton, OH and a psychiatric clinic in Montgomery, AL (while her husband served in the USAF).
She chose to remain at home with her children, born in 1971 and 1975, until 1982. In her years at home, she helped organize a pre-school cooperative which both of her children attended. Beginning in 1982, Judy developed the Wood County office of the Family and Child Abuse Prevention Center (FCAPC). She retired in 2007.
Judy had an extraordinary capacity to engage with other professionals and to inspire collaborative and creative work on behalf of children. In the earlier 1980s, as chair of an interdisciplinary, multi-agency team of professionals, she co-created the Sexual Abuse Prevention Project (SAPP), a pioneering primary prevention program for elementary school children, teachers, and parents. At a time when child abuse prevention programs in schools were new and even controversial, she helped local schools recognize them as essential to the health, education, and well-being of students.
Over time SAPP was adopted by all Wood County schools and Judy went on to facilitate the development of other age-specific child sexual abuse prevention programs and protocols in NW Ohio schools. The Ohio Educational Service Center Association recognized her contributions with its outstanding leadership award for community service. She co-authored or co-presented the results of local sexual abuse prevention programs at state, regional, national and international conferences. A natural teacher, for many years she spoke to classes of BGSU education students about abuse and neglect recognition; as well, she educated parents and medical personnel. For over 10 years, she coordinated the Falcon House Labor Day 5K Run, a race to benefit child abuse prevention programs.
Judy’s work with FCAPC brought her in contact with the Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services Board (ADAMHS) of Wood County, which called on her to assist with special projects, often involving general problem-solving, community collaboration, and public relations. (Less formally, she served many community leaders as an advisor, confidant, and supporter.) Judy worked at fairs and festivals in the early years of ADAMHS to promote the Board and its work and contributed importantly to passage of ADAMHS levies. She was a founding member of groups or programs dealing with suicide and trauma. She also helped found and served on the Wood County Jobs and Family Services planning commission which advises the Commissioners on locally developed programs to deal with family, employment, and social service needs. To honor Judy, the ADAMHS Board, in 2019, created an ongoing award for behavioral health advocacy that bears her name.
For many years Judy served on the board of the League of Women Voters. She was chair of the Voter Service Committee which provided voter information for the community through the Voter Guide, candidate forums, and the Guide to Public Officials. She also co-chaired the LWV’s Mental Health Committee. The League honored her recently with its award for extraordinary service.
Widely travelled, especially in the American West and Canada, Judy was a dedicated gardener, a highly knowledgeable devotee of movies and classical music, an excellent photographer, an avid reader, a proficient kayaker, an environmentalist, and a lover of animals.
A friend wrote her recently, “I wonder if you really know how important you are to this community and how grateful we all are for all you have done in your work and in your life.”
She is missed by her husband, Tom; her children, David (Kristen), Charlotte, NC, and Carolyn, Columbus, OH; and her grandchildren, Whitaker (Greensboro, NC), Reid (Cincinnati, OH), and Tanner (Charlotte, NC); and her twin brother, Steven (Joyce), Voorheesville, NY.
