In memory of a co-worker

Judith A. Knodel

Judy Knodel, a Minnesota Department of Corrections probation and parole officer in Winona County, passed away on October 5, 2004, at the age of 56 years, after a valiant five-year battle against colon and liver cancer. 

Judy was an inspiration to all her knew her during her fight against the illness that first tried to take her life back in 2000.  She outlived her doctor’s prognosis for years with the help of her care, remarkable attitude and sense of humor.  As a single woman with terminal cancer, she placed an ad in her local newspaper “woman with terminal cancer seeking companion for short term commitment.” 

She continued to supervise and co-facilitate therapy groups for felony level sex offenders despite being weakened by years of radiation, chemotherapy, and of course the cancer.  She continued to hold offenders accountable, yet she took great effort to treat each person with respect, that she felt each person deserves.  Her mantra was “you’ve got to treat them like human beings if you want them to behave like human beings.” 

Judy spent the last years of her life fulfilling the dreams she wanted to accomplish.  This included the purchase of a flaming purple three-wheeled motorcycle that she would take on countless trips around the Midwest, including a trip to Montana, in the summer of 2004. 

Her last passion was the establishment of the KIDS KANCER FUND that provides money to families of cancer stricken children.  Judy believed that all of us have grief whenever we lose something or someone, we cherish.  She believed that we can survive anything, if we get past the denial, and that “talking and expressing is the greatest healer of all.”

If you would like to contribute to the Kids Kancer Fund, please send your donation to:
 
Kids Kancer Fund
PO Box 451
Winona, MN  55987
 

Judy wrote this poem for her memorial service:

The Sea Shell

The edges are ragged

With one part missing

Like my brain

With thoughts twirling and hissing.

The colors are white and two

Shades of blue

It reminds me of a calm

Sadness when I think of you.

There is one part where there

Once was two

It will be like us

When I think of you.

Just see me when you look

At the shell and remember

The past we shared.

Know in spirit we’ll always be

Together – just you and me

Because we cared.

Love, Judy