1961 Baptized by Elder Pierce and confirmed by Bro.Dan Blackwelder on December 21, 1961 in Orlando, Florida while finishing her senior year at the University of Florida. When she returned to the U of F she served as a member of the Institute Speaker Bureau, traveling with Bro and Sister Whitmer and a fellow new convert, Kathy Pierce, to speak at different ward, stake or branch firesides.
1962-1963 After graduation with a BA in English and a minor in History, she took a job as a History and Geography teacher for 7th and 8th grades at Maynard Evans JHS in Pine Hill, Fla. and taught the Articles of Faith class in SS. (Wow, moving right along.)
Summer of 1963 Judy took her first trip to BYU. She rode with two others and later dated one of their brothers. She was interested in a boy going to USU and went for a visit. She loved the school and location, had a great time hiking, etc and considered going there but followed the spirit that took her to BYU.
1963-1964 She continued to teach at Maynard Evans JHS but was called to as Stake Young Women’s’ Secretary with Sister Boyd as president, who had a daughter at BYU. Here she got to know more good, strong, dedicated LDS families and formed more of a perspective of what she wanted. In her second year of teaching, she decided to not read any of the student’s files but let them start over with her and formed her own opinions on their progress, capabilities and needs. She also visited the homes of each of her home room students to meet their parents and know the students better. (See a pattern here?) They had a great time as a home room and many of the students would bring their lunches at lunch time to their room where Miss Winkler would play classical music for them and they would eat and talk. It was a wonderful time for them and her.
Summer of 1964 Judy drove her own car,( a white 1964 Plymouth Valiant with red interior named Honey Babe) to BYU with Valenda Hook, a fellow teacher at Maynard Evans JHS. Valenda was not a member of the Church. They had a great time and visited many of the Church History sites, including Nauvoo. She also went to church with Judy. They both took classes at BYU. Judy decided to stay at BYU to work on finalizing her teaching certificate and a Masters in History. She paid her way by tutoring at the very high price of $25/hour.( I, Dick, think they paid extra because of her wonderful intellect and teaching capability, coupled with her wonderful, caring personality and, of course, her smile.) She was called to serve as the SS Secy. (She complained to a tolerant Bishop, because she did not want to be a Secretary. She was not successful in getting a change.) She roomed in a house just north of where LaVell Edwards Stadium now stands. Her roomies included Judy Rogers, whom she knew in Fla., Barbara Briant, and others. They cooked together. Judy was not yet a food funky. She worked at BY High, a research school ran by the BYU Education Dept, as a graduate assistant.
1965-1966 She and Judy Rogers move to a new apartment complex just east of campus, Park Plaza. (Shae later lived there in the same apt and bedroom as Judy without any fore knowledge that Judy had lived there, and while living there, met the famous and fabulous Darren Lee, the man who changed her name.)
Judy was hired fulltime to teach History and English at BY High this year. She was called to serve as a counselor in the Stake Relief Society Presidency and was set apart in that calling the night before meeting Dick. She also taught in some capacity because that is what brought Dick and Judy together. She came to the music store where Dick worked looking for the music for the “Impossible Dream” for a class she was teaching. (Sounds like the lead for a great line.) 38 days later, she received her endowments and temple covenants in the Salt Lake City Temple and 41 days later, in the Logan Temple, received the blessings of being married for eternity. Eternal Marriage was one of the doctrines taught her by Dan Blackwelder when she was his student that she loved and embraced. She married me, a very grateful Dick Sanders, this just about 5 years after her wonderful baptism.
We, idealistically, first moved into a little summer home up Provo Canyon. Problem, it had no central heat or insulation. It had a wood burning cook stove and a fire place and the two space heaters we bought, one for the tiny bedroom and one for the bathroom. The first night, we had to get water from the Provo River. Some dear person gave us an electric blanket as a wedding gift that also help see us through. Dick got his first intro to his new job of keeping Judy warm and spent most of his home hours chopping wood, which Judy burnt up quickly in the cook stove and fireplace. By the time I got home (working late at store during holidays) I would immediately start chopping and then eat and usually chop some more. But she got the place warm. It was fun and we had our first Christmas tree there, a little funny looking one that Judy liked because no one else would want it. That is who she is.
Christmas eve, upon closing of the music store, we started a drive to Florida, where Dick met Judy’s parents and Dear Uncle John. It was a wonderful time. While there, we got rested for the first time since we had met and enjoyed Windermere and Judy’s family very much. It was warm so, hooray, I did not need to chop wood.