Judith Real

Judith Helen Real (Stoddard) passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, on March 13th, 2023.

The daughter of John and Jessie Stoddard, Judith was born and raised in Springfield, MA and lived in the North End with her parents, her grandmother Agneska and her two sisters, Joan and Jerilyn. She graduated from Technical High School in 1964, and had her first child of 5 in 1967 with her first husband. In the early 1980’s, Judith began her career in advertising as a graphic designer for the Wrights Company in Warren, MA. She had a lifelong passion for artistry in all its forms - graphic arts, drawing, wood-burning, sewing, knitting and more. She thrived in her career, but returned to homemaking when she married Francis Real and had her 5th child in 1984. Over the past three decades, Judith started her own business, created and sold custom crafts, traveled, studied interior design, and supported her husband’s business ventures. She was also the proud owner and mother to multiple 4-legged babies - most recently her puppy Liza and her 2 cats, Fiona and Bella. Her warmth and kindness to all living creatures knew no bounds, and her absence will be felt by many for the rest of their lives.

Judith leaves her two sisters, Jerilyn Hackett of Ludlow, MA, and Joan Murray of Springfield, MA, her children Curtiss Smith of West Granby, CT, Steven Smith of East Windsor, CT, Amanda Leger of East Longmeadow, MA, and Judi Real of Palmer, MA, her grandchildren Paige, Joseph, Harrison, Sydney, Camille, Lillian, Sarah, Emily, Kaitlyn, Ashley and Lindsey, her great-grandchildren Paxton and Oliver, and a multitude of other family members and friends. Judith was predeceased by her parents, John Stoddard and Chestawa (Jessie) Stoddard, her husband Francis Real Jr., her daughter Pamela Smith-Gaggi, her nephews Paul Hackett Jr. and Kenneth Murray Jr., her brother-in-law John Murray, and her sister-in-law Peggy Bourbeau.

Join the family in a Memorial Catholic service on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023 at 3:00PM at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Main St. in Agawam, MA, where she will reunite with her favorite Marine, her husband Frank.