Obituary of Judith Katharine Wintermute

JUDITH SHEVCHICK WINTERMUTE

Judith passed peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday March 12, 2024, at the age of 82.

Judith grew up in Scarborough, attending Jarvis Street Baptist Church.  From an early age she loved to sing and was an active choir member in almost every decade of her life. 

She and Max Shevchick married in 1962 in Toronto and later moved to Beamsville in 1967, where they were long time members of Calvary Gospel Church and then Beamsville First Baptist Church.

Judith’s life was full of many blessings, including family, friends, and neighbours.  From the time she was a teenager she was keenly interested in nurturing young children and contributing to their development.  In the 1970’s, while working at St. Albans co-op nursery school, she completed her diploma at Niagara College, taking night courses and qualified as an ECE.  She operated a small home day care on Hillview Drive until she and Max moved to Hixon Street and shortly after opened a licensed home day care facility in 1982. They expanded within ten years to a second location to provide care to school-age children.

She was widowed in 2004 and continued working in the daycare, which is now operated by her daughter, Sandy.  In her retirement, Judith was able to enjoy more time with her friends, including The Red Winers and she became involved in the Beamsville Seniors Club, and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.  She married Walt Wintermute in 2014 and they had four more joyous years together, highlighted by travels to Hawaii, Africa, and Costa Rica.

She is survived by her daughters Susan (John) and Sandy (Jim) and grandchildren Diane (Connor), Kate (Greg) and Christian (Hollie).  Judith will be missed by her many nieces and nephews, her siblings Paul (Mary), Joyce (Arthur), Marlene (Gord), David and sister-in-laws Dorothy and Nancy.  She is predeceased by her brothers Gord and Ted.

Thank you to the health care team at St. Catharines Hospital and the Dialysis Clinic staff for their support and attentive care over the last few weeks.  In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to Community Care of West Niagara or another charity or scholarship fund supporting youth in your community.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at Beamsville First Baptist Church, Saturday April 13, 2024 at 2pm. 

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  Psalm 23:6