2009.10.15: Obituary for Belize RPCV Judy Wang, a generous, tireless advocate for women
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2009.10.15: Obituary for Belize RPCV Judy Wang, a generous, tireless advocate for women
Obituary for Belize RPCV Judy Wang, a generous, tireless advocate for women
Judy was in the forefront of the group of people that helped shape Montana law's regarding domestic violence. She was a founding member of the Missoula Family Violence Council in the mid-1980s, and served as its chairperson for more than a decade. In the 1990s, Judy also spearheaded efforts to create a pro bono attorney program to provide representation for victims of domestic violence seeking civil orders of protection. And after 1995, when Shaun helped start the Mineral County Help Line, a 24-hour crisis hotline for victims of domestic and sexual violence, Judy was right there to offer training for the crisis line volunteers. Former Help Line Director Verna Helm recalled that Judy was always available to offer her expertise during the eight-week training sessions. "She really helped us in the Help Line. She would come and give training, and never once charged us, and we were able to call her whenever we had a question about domestic violence and the law." Mineral County volunteers gained an immense benefit from her generosity in answering questions about the law, Verna said. "What we valued most was her just being there to answer questions about the law. If a woman wanted to take her child across state lines, you could call Judy day or night and she would answer our questions. She would assist in helping women get divorces in domestic violence situations, and she always worked pro bono," she said. Verna said she was amazed to learn how educated Judy was. The obituary stated that she received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from MSU, then joined the Peace Corps to teach nursing in Belize for two years. After returning to Missoula she worked her way throughout graduate school as a nurse, and received her law degree from the University of Montana in 1984. "I didn't know she was a nurse," Verna said. "She was just the kind of person who never bragged so you never really knew how educated or how talented she really was." Shaun noted that his wife had attended nursing school with Judy in Bozeman and was impressed that Judy had served in the Peace Corps in Belize.
Obituary for Belize RPCV Judy Wang, a generous, tireless advocate for women
Mineral County recalls Judy Wang as generous, tireless advocate for women
Wednesday, October 07 2009 @ 11:28 AM MDT
Contributed by: Admin
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by John Q. Murray
"She cared. You could see she really cared," said Sally Miller, the Mineral County Help Line Director.
The former director, Verna Helm, agreed. "She was just always there for us," Verna said. "She touched everybody's life, really."
Mineral County Attorney M. Shaun Donovan said Montanans lost a tireless, generous, and compassionate public servant. "She's really going to be missed. I can't think of anybody who can begin to fill her shoes in terms of the roles she filled."
Mineral County officials joined others around the state in mourning the loss of Judy Wang, killed Sept. 25 on I-90 near Warm Springs when her car was struck from behind by another driver. She was returning to Missoula from a domestic violence conference in Billings.
Wang, a prosecutor in the Missoula city attorney's office, spent the last 23 years as a tireless advocate for victims of domestic violence. As her family wrote in the obituary: "Judy's name comes from Judith of the Bible, a warrior woman who, in ancient times, delivered her people from oppression. Judy Wang was a woman who was intensely driven to help others, to ensure justice, to improve the legal system and to make the world a better place.
Shaun shared the front table with Judy Wang at a 2004 awards banquet in Polson. He was being honored as Outstanding Prosecutor of the Year for his commitment in prosecuting domestic and sexual violence cases; Judy was receiving a lifetime achievement award for her work.
"She was a very fair, reasonable, and tremendous prosecutor, a very ethical person who was really good with everybody that she worked with in the system," Shaun recalled. "The role of prosecutor in that situation demands a lot more than legal expertise--it demands a level of compassion and empathy and understanding and communication, and she filled that role really well. I know I was honored when I got the award to be able to stand on the same platform with her, because she's so well known for all her good work."
Shaun said he often called on Judy for advice--most recently about a month ago--to ask about experts who might testify in a case. She would immediately get back to him with the information he needed.
"She was very generous to everybody in terms of her time and her knowledge and her enthusiasm," he said. "She was one of those people, from the first contact I remember having with her, she was always enthused and very involved and really a good resource. She was the kind of prosecutor that all of us try to be."
Her influence also included education, new programs, and new legislation, Shaun pointed out.
"When I first started prosecuting cases in 1979, assault involving a husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend was treated like any other assault. Judy was at the forefront in saying that we needed a statute for domestic violence. We were pretty uneducated and naive, really, naive about a lot of the issues. We just said, 'Huh? Why do we need to do that?' She was one of those forward-thinking people who had either intuitively or by research realized this would have some real benefit in terms of protecting women and for the offenders as well. They were destroying relationships that they really cared about."
Judy was in the forefront of the group of people that helped shape Montana law's regarding domestic violence. She was a founding member of the Missoula Family Violence Council in the mid-1980s, and served as its chairperson for more than a decade. In the 1990s, Judy also spearheaded efforts to create a pro bono attorney program to provide representation for victims of domestic violence seeking civil orders of protection.
And after 1995, when Shaun helped start the Mineral County Help Line, a 24-hour crisis hotline for victims of domestic and sexual violence, Judy was right there to offer training for the crisis line volunteers.
Former Help Line Director Verna Helm recalled that Judy was always available to offer her expertise during the eight-week training sessions.
"She really helped us in the Help Line. She would come and give training, and never once charged us, and we were able to call her whenever we had a question about domestic violence and the law."
Mineral County volunteers gained an immense benefit from her generosity in answering questions about the law, Verna said.
"What we valued most was her just being there to answer questions about the law. If a woman wanted to take her child across state lines, you could call Judy day or night and she would answer our questions. She would assist in helping women get divorces in domestic violence situations, and she always worked pro bono," she said.
Verna said she was amazed to learn how educated Judy was. The obituary stated that she received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from MSU, then joined the Peace Corps to teach nursing in Belize for two years. After returning to Missoula she worked her way throughout graduate school as a nurse, and received her law degree from the University of Montana in 1984.
"I didn't know she was a nurse," Verna said. "She was just the kind of person who never bragged so you never really knew how educated or how talented she really was."
Shaun noted that his wife had attended nursing school with Judy in Bozeman and was impressed that Judy had served in the Peace Corps in Belize.
Shaun said he was amazed by the amount of work--and its high quality--that Judy sustained over the last two decades.
"I've been in this office so long, I've seen a lot of prosecutors come and go," he said. "Most go on to something with a higher profile, or more money, and less headaches. The people who stay at the ground level doing the hands-on work years after year are really few in number, and the ones that do that at a very high level are just extremely rare. She was one of those people."
Mineral County Help Line Director Sally Miller recalled taking classes from Judy and remembered her as very compassionate and intelligent.
"She was so knowledgeable on the law--she could tell you what to do, and how to do it. She was just invaluable. There are not very many people like her. She put her own life on the back burner a lot of times to help others.
"Everybody is feeling the pain," Sally said.
The Mineral County Help Line numbers are 822-4202, 822-4262 or toll free 866-794-2100. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE.
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Headlines: October, 2009; Peace Corps Belize; Directory of Belize RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Belize RPCVs; Obituaries; Women's Issues; Montana
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