Judith Krizan

Judith Krizan (neither Schad), 95, after a gradual decline, passed away of natural causes at Northwestern Medical Center, in St. Albans, Vermont, on Thursday October 9, 2025.

A native of Kempten, Germany, Judith emigrated to the United States in the 1950’s. She worked in the Chemistry Department Office at Lehigh University, where she later met her future husband, John Krizan (since pre-deceased). They moved to Vermont in 1962. While her husband joined the Physics Department at UVM (University of Vermont), Judith developed her passion for all things plants, gardening year round, indoors as well as out.

In her prime, Judith attained certification as a Realtor for Century 21. Often the quickest person to calculate the tip at a restaurant, and frequent high scorer in Scrabble games, she found in real estate a worthy outlet for her fascination with numbers. Her favorite part of selling homes was not the showing or selling, but in manipulating the numbers to find ways to match people with houses they could afford. She defined a beautiful new house as one which would not bankrupt the new homeowner.

A follower of Euell Gibbons’ Stalking the Wild Asparagus, she foraged back when that pastime was considered a lost art. “Look, the peas are poking their little green heads out of the soil” was her springtime mantra.

After her husband’s death, she moved to Alburgh, VT. She was active with UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), OWL (Older Womens League), and was a participant and volunteer for many events in her adopted hometown. Despite a lame leg, neighbors saw her mowing the lawn fully up to her 90th year, riding the machine, walker tossed into the attached garden cart.

Music played a decisive role in Judith’s life. Her first date with her future husband involved attending a concert at Moravian College, and for their “honeymoon” they attended a Nathan Milstein recital. Both of her children are professional musicians. She leaves a son, Alan J Krizan (Gilda), of Porto, Portugal, a daughter, Ingrid J Krizan, (Pat), of Chicago, IL, and a grandchild, Philo.

A Celebration of Judith’s Life will be held at a currently indeterminate future date. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to CIDER (Champaign Islanders Developing Essential Resources).