• Article Photo. Tilford staff members invited Joe Wood to the tree planting ceremony honoring Judy, who died Oct. 3.
    Tilford staff members invited Joe Wood to the tree planting ceremony honoring Judy, who died Oct. 3.

For 31 years, Judy Wood was a teacher's associate for elementary classrooms in the Vinton-Shellsburg school district. Colleagues were impressed with how, when Judy retired in 2010, she still remembered the names of the graduates whom she had in class eight years earlier. 

Judy died of cancer on Oct. 3. On Tuesday, Oct. 16, her former colleagues planted a tree in her honor in front of Tilford Elementary. The autumn blaze maple will remind colleagues of Judy's red hair. As they stood around the tree, the staff members shared stories about Judy and offered hugs and condolences to Joe Wood, who came to be part of the ceremony honoring his wife.