Burlington lawyer fought for civil rights, social justice and was a relentless advocate for young people
Judith F. Dickson, 77, died Thursday, July 6, 2023, at her home in Burlington, Vt., surrounded by her children and her beloved dog, Sadie. She died of congestive heart failure that had been plaguing her — but not stopping her! — for a number of years. In her final weeks, she had many visits from family members and dear lifelong friends. Judy was born in Boston, Mass., on December 21, 1945, to Edith and Francis Foldes, Hungarian Jews who had immigrated to the U.S. in September 1941. She and her two sisters grew up in Pittsburgh, where Judy was a ball of energy as a child — twirling batons, practicing dance moves and playing tennis with her friends, and horseback-riding with her father. In high school, Judy was a star cheerleader and also began discovering political activism through her Unitarian Church youth group. In 1963, Judy followed her older sister Eva to Connecticut College, graduating in 1967, and then attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education. After teaching at HeadStart in the Boston area for several years, Judy attended law school at Northeastern University. She met her husband, Don Dickson, when they were both grad students in Cambridge, Mass. They married in 1972, and Judy followed Don to Vermont after finishing law school in 1976. They settled down on Ledgemere Street in the “Five Sisters” neighborhood of Burlington, where they lived for over 40 years and raised their three children, Amy, David and Jeff. Judy was a fighter. At the age of 19, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a disease that, at the time, did not leave many survivors. She persevered through college while undergoing radiation, but her cancer returned a year later. With her doctor father’s help, Judy enrolled in the first ever clinical trial for combination chemotherapy at the National Institutes of Health. This involved frequent flights from New England to D.C., on which Judy would attempt to keep up with her coursework between bouts of chemo-induced nausea. This treatment was ultimately successful,and gave Judy almost 60 more years, but the experimental doses of radiation and chemotherapy also resulted in slowly progressing damage to her heart and lungs that led to her cardiovascular disease later in life. Judy was also a fighter for civil rights and social justice. She spent the bulk of her legal career at Vermont Legal Aid, where she directed the Disability Law…
Burlington lawyer fought for civil rights, social justice and was a relentless advocate for young people
Judith F. Dickson, 77, died Thursday, July 6, 2023, at her home in Burlington, Vt., surrounded by her children and her beloved dog, Sadie. She died of congestive heart failure that had been plaguing her — but not stopping her! — for a number of years. In her final weeks, she had many visits from family members and dear lifelong friends. Judy was born in Boston, Mass., on December 21, 1945, to Edith and Francis Foldes, Hungarian Jews who had immigrated to the U.S. in September 1941. She and her two sisters grew up in Pittsburgh, where Judy was a ball of energy as a child — twirling batons, practicing dance moves and playing tennis with her friends, and horseback-riding with her father. In high school, Judy was a star cheerleader and also began discovering political activism through her Unitarian Church youth group. In 1963, Judy followed her older sister Eva to Connecticut College, graduating in 1967, and then attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education. After teaching at HeadStart in the Boston area for several years, Judy attended law school at Northeastern University. She met her husband, Don Dickson, when they were both grad students in Cambridge, Mass. They married in 1972, and Judy followed Don to Vermont after finishing law school in 1976. They settled down on Ledgemere Street in the “Five Sisters” neighborhood of Burlington, where they lived for over 40 years and raised their three children, Amy, David and Jeff. Judy was a fighter. At the age of 19, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a disease that, at the time, did not leave many survivors. She persevered through college while undergoing radiation, but her cancer returned a year later. With her doctor father’s help, Judy enrolled in the first ever clinical trial for combination chemotherapy at the National Institutes of Health. This involved frequent flights from New England to D.C., on which Judy would attempt to keep up with her coursework between bouts of chemo-induced nausea. This treatment was ultimately successful,and gave Judy almost 60 more years, but the experimental doses of radiation and chemotherapy also resulted in slowly progressing damage to her heart and lungs that led to her cardiovascular disease later in life. Judy was also a fighter for civil rights and social justice. She spent the bulk of her legal career at Vermont Legal Aid, where she directed the Disability Law…
