Judith “Judy” Ann Learoyd Haley (70) passed away, peacefully, at 11:48pm on December 24th of 2022 after a 14-month battle with cancer. She was at her home in New Port Richey, Florida surrounded by her immediate family at the time of her passing. Judy always amazed us with her courage and bravery while fighting this horrible disease. No matter how sick she was, she was determined to fight and used grace and humor until the very end. Her joy for life, love of her family and indomitable spirit kept her pushing through the pain. She truly embodied resilience and perseverance and provided us with countless examples of what that looks like. She fought hard, but the strength of her love was even more powerful.
Judy was born and raised in Danvers, Massachusetts. She was educated in the Danvers School District and went on to get her dental hygienist certification in Boston. Life was not always easy for her, but she rose above the obstacles and heartaches she experienced and made a better life for herself and her children. She moved to Clearwater, Florida in 1986 where she worked hard to support her family as a single mother in a variety of jobs. She worked in management positions in the food services industry and then spent the last 10 years of her working career in management for Bank of America. She took great pride in her work and loved helping others. She made many lifelong friends in her customers and colleagues due to her caring, kindhearted and down to earth nature. She loved to have fun and make others laugh. She was dependable, loyal, ambitious and had a spunk and zest for life that people connected to.
Judy would probably say her greatest job in life was being a loving mother and grandmother. She treasured her children and modeled unconditional love to them, always. She especially loved her role as Mimi and was so proud of her family as they were of her. Judy was beautiful, fiercely independent, loyal, intelligent, kind, funny and had a mischievous and vivacious personality. She always made people around her laugh with her quick wit, sarcasm and no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is approach. She was fun, loving, and was always the first to remember a birthday, comment or “like” your Facebook post, as well as to check on you if you were sick or going through something while keeping her own health struggles to herself. She didn’t want to burden anyone else. She was self-less and always cared for others, often putting others needs before her own. She loved adventure and loved to have fun. She made friends everywhere she went and had many lifelong friends who treasured her and whom she loved dearly.
One of Judy’s favorite things to do was going out to eat, especially to restaurants on the water. Though she barely ate and often sent the food back, she would enjoy listening to music, having good conversation and drinking a beer. She also loved the beach, going boating, traveling, and spending time with family and friends. She always loved going “home” to Massachusetts each summer to visit family and friends and hitting all of her favorite restaurants.
Judy loved deeply and had a large extended family and many close friends, who were more like family, who loved her as deeply back. She is survived by her two sons, Gregory Clark and Michael Haley; daughter-in-law Kristine Clark; daughter’s, Kerri Garrett and Melissa Richards and son-in-law Gregory Garrett. She was the best “Mimi” to her 10 grandchildren Derek Clark and grand-daughter-in-law, Tara Clark; Travis Clark and grand-daughter-in-law Stephanie Clark; Megan Manter, Jessie Clark, Alyssa Richards, Makenzie Manter, Rebecca Clark, Brett Clark, Gracie Garrett, Griffin Garrett and 6 great-grandchildren Matthew Colwell, Mikayla Colwell, Dakota Clark, Jordan Clark, Haley Try and Callie Wilson. She is further survived by a large extended family and close family friends including her beloved brother Richard Learoyd; brother in-law, Michael Herlihy; and close family friends, Joan and Larry Comeau and Gregory Clark Sr., as well as several special cousins and many treasured nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by both her parents, Wayne and Virginia Learoyd, at a young age, as well as her brother Kenneth Learoyd, and her two sisters, Janet Ingalls and Marybeth Williams.
All who knew and loved her will never forget her tenacity, wit, charm, grace (when pertinent), and her everlasting love and caring nature. Judy was a loving, self-less, strong and courageous woman. She truly personified everything good, sincere and beautiful in this world and she will be so missed and forever in our hearts. The loss of Judy is tremendous to those who knew her and loved her, but her, smile, her love and her spirit will live on in those she loved and whose lives she touched.

A “Celebration of Life” will be held, in lieu of a service, on March 4th, 2023 in New Port Richey, Florida. Another service will be held on May 28th, 2023 in Danvers, Massachusetts. All are welcome to come and remember the happiest moments that they shared with Judy. More details to come.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made, in her memory, to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or an organization of your choosing.