Judith Palmier O'Hare, 81, passed away April 20, 2023 surrounded by her family at her home in Canton, Georgia, from complications of her long battle with heart failure.

Judith was born in Russellville (Auburn), Kentucky on January 17, 1942 to the late Rodney and Goldie (Palmier) Milligan. Over the years, Judith, her parents and her brother, Thomas Milligan, laid down roots in Dayton, Tennessee; Prairie Du Rocher, Pinckneyville, and Quincy, Illinois.

Judith graduated from Quincy High School in 1959 and Gem City Business College in 1961. She moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1971 and spent many years working as an accounting clerk at Shaughnessy Kniep Hawe Paper Company. In 1972, she married Michael O'Hare from Florissant, Missouri at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Chester, Illinois. They resided in Brentwood, Missouri, and had two children, Sean and Kerry, who were her greatest joy.

In 1987, they moved to Canton. She was a long-time parishioner of Our Lady of La Salette Catholic Church in Canton and then at Our Lady of the Mountains in Jasper. Her love of God and deep regard for and love of the Catholic faith never wavered.

Judith's life and loves were born of curiosity and an aversion to boredom. This led to her life-long love of artistry, all things knitting, needlepoint, crochet, crafting and sewing. She loved doing crossword puzzles, reading books, the daily newspaper and magazines. She collected stamps, postcards, cookbooks, shells, china and depression glass. She volunteered at church and school and played an active role in her children's extracurriculars, whether it was chaperoning band trips or setting up concessions. She loved watching her granddaughter dance, play, draw and sing. She loved Dodgers baseball, traveling, Paris and London in the fall, road trips to the Georgia coast, antiquing on the weekends, the California coast at sunset, wine country, and any chance to see, touch, experience and taste something different.

Despite her deceptively delicate frame, Judith was resilient, unbreakable and always showed great spirit. She was a loving wife, Mother, Grandmother, sister and dear friend to so many.

Left to cherish Judith's memory is her husband of 50 years, Michael O'Hare, from Canton; her son, Sean O'Hare, his wife, Melody, and Judith's granddaughter, Sarah from Powder Springs, Georgia; her daughter, Kerry O'Hare, from Canton; her brother, Thomas Milligan, and his wife Linda Milligan; and her niece, Kelly Milligan. And her sweet cat, Sasha.

The family will receive friends on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 from 4 to 6 p.m. for a visitation at Darby Funeral Home, and on Thursday, June 1 at 11 a.m. for the Requiem Mass at Our Lady of the Mountains (1908 Waleska Highway 108, Jasper) with Father Tri Nguyen officiating. A private interment will be held in Chester, Illinois at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery at a later date.

Her family would like to thank the kind staff of Piedmont Heart Institute in Canton. The superb care and kind smiles she received for more than 30 years are beyond words.

Judith had many favorite charities. If you would like, please consider a donation in her name: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, National Shrine of St. Jude - Claretian Missionaries and Catholic Charities USA.

Her family finds solace knowing that Judith is in heaven singing at the dinner table without reprimand, reading in the car without a hint of a stomach ache, and walking on the beach finding the shark's teeth without getting short of breath.