Zitter, Mrs. Judith Marie Bode
9/4/1943 - 7/22/2015
Virgil, NY. Mrs. Judith (Jay) Marie Bode Zitter of Virgil, NY, passed away July 22, 2015, at age 71. Judith Marie Bode was born September 4, 1943, in Bay City, Michigan, to Roland and Esther (Gruendemann) Bode, both Lutheran-school teachers. During her first 18 years, the family lived in Sebewaing, MI; Green Bay, WI; Richville, MI, and Saginaw, MI. In 1961, she graduated from Saginaw's Michigan Lutheran Seminary as valedictorian. She graduated from Delta College with an Associate of Arts degree and was also named Most Outstanding Student. After graduating magna cum laude from Michigan State University in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts, she worked for two years as a fifth-grade teacher at Handley Middle School in Saginaw. She completed her Master of Arts degree as a Reading Specialist at MSU in 1966. On August 13, 1966, she married Thomas A. Zitter. They moved to Belle Glade, FL, in 1969, where Judith taught at Gove Elementary School. After the family moved to Ithaca, NY, Jay taught English and occasionally social studies at Lansing Middle School until she retired in 2003. In 1994, she was named Outstanding Educator by the New York State English Council. Divorced since 1994, Jay married William R. (Bill) Fair on June 17, 2013. They built a new home at Greek Peak near Ithaca. Jay loved reading, sewing, and traveling. In 1984, the family enjoyed a six-month sabbatic in Warwick, England. In 1993, she visited Kirov, Russia, for a three-week teacher exchange. After retirement, she and Bill traveled the world, visiting 62 countries on all seven continents. In addition, they traveled extensively in the US and Canada. Jay reveled in long-distance hiking, becoming End-to-Ender No. 169 after hiking the 562-mile-long Finger Lakes Trail across New York State. She also served on the Board of the Finger Lakes Trail Conference for five years. When quilting entered her life, a new passion absorbed her interest to the very end. Surviving in addition to her husband are children Timothy (Melissa) Zitter, Overland Park, KS; Daniel (Nora) Zitter, Redwood City, CA, and Julie (Carlos) Velasco, Austin, TX; step-children Kelly Fair (Charles) McCurdy, Lake Worth, FL; Cynthia Fair (Andrew) Thompson, Pittman, NJ, and William J. (RoseMarie) Fair, New York, NY; and 13 grandchildren. She also is survived by four sisters and a brother: Louise (Carl) Pagel, St. Joseph, MI; Edith (Malcolm) Sillars, Buena Vista, CO; Lorna (Thomas) Fryer, The Woodlands, TX; Marcus (Karen) Bode, Saginaw, MI, and Charlene (Curtis) Jaeger, Green Bay, WI. Another sister, Annette Kay, preceded her in death. Memorials in lieu of flowers may be directed to the Finger Lakes Trail Conference, 6111 Visitor Center Road, Mt. Morris, NY 14810, or Hospicare, 172 E. King Rd., Ithaca, NY, 14850, in her name.