Judith Irene Parkhurst

Judith Irene Parkhurst

Iowa City

Judith Irene Parkhurst, 90, of Iowa City, Iowa, passed away on Jan. 27, 2023, at the University of Iowa Hospitals. To honor Judith’s wishes, a cremation has taken place and her family will have a Celebration of Life at a later date. Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service is serving the family.

Judith was born on Dec. 21, 1932, in Chicago, Ill., to Ahlert and Irene (Rohwer) Larson. She was graduated from Moline Public High School and married James Parkhurst, also from Moline. Two daughters were born to the marriage, including Deborah (Parkhurst) Green and Elizabeth (Parkhurst) Scott. The marriage was later dissolved amicably while Judith continued her education – including graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Augustana College, receiving her M.S. in Geography from Indiana University and Ph.D., in Geography from University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Judith later taught Geography at Wayne State University in Detroit and Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.

Judith was passionate about learning, reading, science, music, and nature. She discovered the Catholic faith and God later in life and taught her children to believe in themselves and always be all they were meant to be. She will be dearly missed.

Judith is survived by her daughters, Deborah P. Green of Iowa City and Elizabeth P. (Doug) Scott of Star Lake, Wis. She also is survived by her grandchildren, Ryan Scott of Tacoma, Wash., Kevin (Nadia Panossian) Scott of Denver, Colo., and Morgan Scott (Jon) Kardos of Encinitas, Calif.

She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Ahlert Larson; and her son-in-law, Leon C. Green.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Judith’s name may be made either to Moline Public Library, 3210 41st St., Moline, IL 61265, or the University of Illinois, Geography Department, Charles S. Alexander Geography Graduate Student Support Fund, 2044 Natural History Building, 1301 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801, https://ggis.illinois.edu/giving/give.