Judith Elinor Hartop (nee Jacobs) passed away on March 21, 2023 at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. She was 65 years old.
Judy was born in Pequannock, New Jersey and grew up in Verona as the sixth of eight children to the late Frederick and Mildred Jacobs (nee Walsh).
Judy attended Our Lady of the Lake School and Verona High School from which she graduated in 1975. Judy obtained her B.A in English in 1980 from Jersey City State College. In the fall of 1978 Judy met her husband of 40 years, David, in Lincoln, England while on a study abroad program.
Judy and David married in 1982 at Our Lady of the Lake Church in Verona. Judy worked in magazine publishing in the 1980s and early 1990s as the senior editor at the American Kennel Club in Manhattan. In 1994 Judy gave birth to her son, James (Jamie) and in 1996 to her daughter, Nora.
Judy received hundreds of compliments over the years on the wonderful job she did raising her children. Jamie and Nora were and will always be her legacy.
As a stay-at-home mom Judy became active as a Girl Scout Leader. Judy then became a teacher’s aide in Nutley followed by Glen Ridge at Linden Avenue School. Judy then went back to school to obtain her teaching certification from Caldwell College and over the past six years taught Pre-K in Newark at Catholic Charities and The North Ward school system. Judy retired in 2021.
Judy was a wonderful, caring and compassionate individual who donated to multiple charities and causes over the years. That personified Judy’s character. Visiting will be held in the Prout Funeral Home, 370 Bloomfield Ave., Verona on Friday, March 24 from 4 to 7 p.m. Judy’s Funeral Mass will be offered in Our Lady of the Lake Church, Lakeside Ave., Verona on Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by burial in Immaculate Conception Cemetery, Upper Montclair.
Judy is survived by her husband, David in Glen Ridge and her children, Jamie in Hoboken and Nora in Clifton, and six of her seven siblings, Tom Jacobs in Florida, Sue (Alan) Rubinstein in California, Bill (Janice) Jacobs in Glen Ridge, Barbara (Vincent) Wilhelm in Weehawken, Maureen Jacobs in Caldwell, and Brian (Karyn) Jacobs in Wyckoff, New Jersey, in addition to many nieces, nephews and cousins.
In lieu of flowers please send donations to Friends of the Glen Ridge Library, P. O. Box 8115, Glen Ridge, NJ 07028. Condolences may be left at www.proutfuneralhome.com.
