Dr. Judith "Judie" Thelen, 82, Cumberland, died on Sunday, May 3, 2020, from natural causes.

Her only surviving family members are three cousins, Suzanne Hudson, of Boston, Mass., Phillip Hudson, of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Charles Hudson, of Cortland, N.Y.

Several friends, teachers and former students, will also miss her.

Judie was raised in Syracuse, N.Y., and received her BA in History, in 1959, from LeMoyne College. She was employed as an elementary school teacher in Prince George's County, a secondary reading specialist in the D.C. public high schools, and reading supervisor, in Falls Church, Va. She received her Ph.D. in Education, in 1970, from Syracuse University and taught literacy courses at Frostburg State University. She established the graduate reading program at FSU and retired from the education department as a full professor in 1997.

Dr. Thelen was very active in the International Reading Association (IRA), the world's largest professional organization dedicated to promoting literacy worldwide. She went on to achieve national and international recognition for her work in reading and was a consultant to many school districts throughout the United States and for the Department of Defense. She became president of the IRA in 1991. She also organized the Western Maryland Reading Council in the early '70s.

Prior to taking early retirement, Dr. Thelen was elected to two terms on the Allegany County Board of Education and became president of that assembly from 1997 until 1999. During that time, she served on many task forces for the Maryland State Department of Education, the Maryland Association of Boards of Education and for the IRA.

In 1998, Dr. Thelen joined the Cumberland Rotary Club and briefly served as vice president and chair of the Appropriations Committee.

During the 2006 legislative session, she served as legislative aide to the chair of the Western Maryland Delegation, Del. Robert McGee. In 2007, she was appointed by Governor O'MalIey to serve on the Judicial Appointments Commission.

Judie also served on the Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, the Bowling Green Citizens Committee, and the Carver Community Center Board.

Dr. Marie Clay of Auckland, New Zealand, succeeded Judie as president of the IRA and wrote about her as . . . "a warm, sociable, caring educator who served the IRA with resources of personal strength we all admired. She fostered the image of the IRA worldwide when she honored the director-general of UNESCO, broke through the language and rapid reading barriers in Russia, worked in outreach to rural Argentina and developed mate-ship among the Australians. Her love of children has touched many people."

Dr. Thelen loved children and animals, above all things, and was a strong advocate for their rights. She will miss them very much.

Her remains will be cremated. There will be no services for Judie. She conducted her own wake on July 29, 2007, which she arranged, and was attended by many close family members and friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Animal Welfare Society, the Carver Community Center, or children's books can be donated to the Allegany County Public Library in her memory.

Of course, she wrote this and reminds all readers: "I hope I made a difference. Be happy for me, especially if I will be reunited with my loved ones gone on before me, for I will then know eternal happiness and wisdom."

The family wishes to thank the medical and support staff at the Cumberland Health Care Center for their competent and compassionate care of Judie for the past three years.