Judy Rae Thrams was born May 13, 1944, to parents Raymond Thrams and Vina Nelson Thrams. She had a younger sister Sherry.

She spent her childhood years in Wibaux, MT, graduating from Wibaux High School in 1962. She became a Christian early in life. Judy moved with her family to White Sulphur Spring, MT, after graduation. There she worked as a waitress and made many friends. She loved people and parties. Judy and her friend BJ hosted an English Tea Party complete with costumes and English tea food that was covered by the local paper in White Sulphur Springs. She went to bars but never drank. She loved to dance and that was where the music was.

Her goal from early in life was to become a teacher. After much convincing her father agreed that she should go to Eastern Montana College in Billings. She transferred to the University of Montana in Missoula. There she met and married her husband, Rich Carlson. They had no children.

After graduation, she was hired as head teacher in a K8 and special school in Elmo, MT, on the Flathead Indian Reservation on the shores of Flathead Lake. Judy and her friend Carol worked two summers for the UM Office of Career Education developing a program for at risk youth. They traveled the state in her orange VW bug, stopping at Dairy Queens for her favorite Peanut Buster Parfait. Her next assignment was at a Flathead area high school.

After her divorce, she moved back with her parents in Wibaux. It was a very painful time for her.

Judy later worked at Home on the Range, a live-in ranch facility for at risk youth near Beach, ND. She coordinated between the Ranch and public schools where the children were enrolled as part of her duties.

About 1994, she moved to Costa Mesa, CA, with friends. There Judy worked as a supervisor in a group home. Shortly thereafter, she moved back to Beach, ND, to care for her father.

In 1996, Judy moved to Sacramento, CA, to be closer to her cousins. There she held several teaching positions. The last of which was a Capital Christian Center elementary school.

After Judy retired from teaching, she managed a senior apartment complex until her health forced her to resign. She stayed in her apartment until 2020 when she suffered a medical condition that necessitated a move to a nursing home. She lived there until passing away on August 25, 2025.

Judy was a fighter. She fought polio as a small child, fought to go to college, fought through the trauma of her divorce, and the death of her parents and her sister Sherry. She fought to regain her strength and independence in the nursing home and through two surgeries while there. She did all of this with grace, prayer, and her trust in Jesus Christ.

She was predeceased by her parents and her sister. She is survived by her uncle, Leon Thrams, her niece Tausha and nephews, Jeff and Jessey Schemalling, many cousins and her many friends.

Judy is now with the angels she admired.