Given by Simon Williams, Judy’s nephew, on Friday, August 23, 2024 at the funeral home Westgaarde in Amsterdam.
A very good afternoon everyone. On behalf of Judy’s family can I start by thanking you all very much for being here today. With the location and limited time it hasn’t been easy for many of us to travel from the UK, but we really appreciate all the support and kind words we’ve received from Judy’s friends here in the Netherlands, particularly from the table tennis community. It’s been a pleasure to learn that Judy is held in such high regard and with so much genuine affection. I’m also glad that some of those who’ve been unable to attend in person are able to join us on the livestream and participate with us today.
I’m afraid my language skills are very much inferior to Judy’s, so I’m unable to speak in Dutch. However, if anyone would like a transcript in Dutch then please let me know afterwards and we can arrange this.
It was on 25th February 1944 that Judith Yvonne Williams was born in Colney Heath near St Albans in Hertfordshire, north of London. At that time the Second World War was at a critical stage. It was the end of the so called “Big Week” of strategic allied bombing, and also the day of the bombing of the London home of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.
Judy’s father William (known as Bill) was a radio engineer, and less than 4 months later he was made acting Captain and had to say goodbye to his wife Marjorie and baby daughter as he was deployed to India working for the Special Operations Executive on radio phone and radar systems.
Bill returned to the UK in November 1945 and was discharged 3 months later. Then in November 1946 Judy’s brother Peter, my father, was born. Shortly afterwards Bill and Marjorie bought and began running the Dagmar House Hotel in Hatfield, and it was there that Judy and Peter grew up and began to play table tennis in a pre-fabricated games room Bill built in the hotel garden. Judy once told me it was just big enough to meet international table tennis standards.
A couple of teams were formed at the hotel playing in the local Welwyn Hatfield league, and Judy started playing junior matches for Hertfordshire at the age of 13. Two years later she won the national U15 final of the Eagle/Girl Championships of Great Britain. She was soon winning county tournaments in Hertfordshire and around the country, as well as making a winning international debut in Germany in January 1960 alongside other famous players before she’d even turned 16. Later that year Judy won the News of the World Coach and Pupil trophy, presented by the eponymous holiday camp owner Billy Butlin. Then in 1961 she won the junior girls doubles at the English Open.
From the age of 11 Judy went to St Albans Girls Grammar School, where she discovered her interest and talent for languages. Starting with French and Latin at school, she went on to be the first in the family to go to university, studying German and Russian in Birmingham, with a bit of Spanish along the way. Living in the Midlands made Warwickshire Judy’s next table tennis county, and it was also during this time that she played in her first World Championships in 1963.
By the time Judy graduated, her parents had moved to Eastbourne in Sussex on the South Coast, so she joined the county team there which also included my father. There she won the women’s singles at the Sussex Closed championships no fewer than nine times!
More World Championships followed in 1967 and ’69, as well as the European Championships in Moscow in 1970. The pinnacle of Judy’s achievements though was winning the English National Championships in 1969 following hard fought battles with several top players. Table tennis rarely gets much coverage on British television, but my Dad used to tell the story that the weather was so bad that day that nearly all other sport was cancelled and the BBC showed live coverage of almost the entire final!
Judy’s language expertise led her to embark on a translation career with the Shell Oil Company, working at Shell Centre near Waterloo in London. Conveniently Shell provided sports facilities in the basement including table tennis tables, and this enabled Judy and my Dad to train and play in the Central London League. There she was a four-time winner of the J M Rose Bowl, including in 1971 when Coca-Cola first sponsored England table tennis and their Managing Director made the presentation.
In the mid-1970s Judy’s translation career with Shell brought her here to Amsterdam, adding Dutch to her impressive linguistic skills and joining the Dutch national table tennis team as well as becoming a key member of the club which became Amsterdam ’78 and of which we’ll hear more shortly.
Although Judy was still in England when she was a bridesmaid at her brother’s wedding to Linda, my Mum, in 1973, by the time I was born two years later she was already living here. So to me and my younger siblings Clare (who we’ll hear from later) and Robert she was always Aunty Judy who lived in Amsterdam. Typically she would come to the UK about once a year, often at Christmastime, and make a whistlestop tour of friends and relatives. Although I don’t know if it was really true, these visits often suggested that Judy led a very hectic lifestyle where she could hardly fit everything in and always seemed to be running late. More than once I remember her saying she’d forgotten to allow time to sleep when making the long drive from Amsterdam via Calais to England. Sometimes she’d set out for the day without even having a place to stay. But when we did see Judy she always enjoyed good food and a good chat late into the evening, and of course a cup or three of tea! And when she came at Christmas I especially looked forward to the marzipan fruit loaf she brought as well as the large chocolate letters for each of us in the shape of our initials.
Back in Amsterdam Judy had bought a typical Dutch house with several storeys in Korte Kolksteeg 5. In 1981 she married Kemal Çelik from Turkey, introducing yet another language to her repertoire, and he converted the bottom floor of the house to a coffee shop, the Magnolia Coffee Shop as I discovered yesterday. Sadly the business was ultimately unsuccessful, and both this and their relationship came to an end. After that Judy moved to a flat in Popendrechtstraat, which I was able to visit with my Dad in 2015 and also meet her then housemate Pieter and his husky!
Judy had taken early retirement from Shell in the 1990s, and although she did some occasional freelance translation work, it allowed her to devote more and more time to table tennis. She continued to play not only for the local club but also in national championships and international veterans events. In 1988 she was runner up in the Over 40 women’s singles and doubles at the World Veterans Championships in Zagreb, and in 2001 brought home a bronze medal from the Over 50s women’s singles at the European Veterans Championships in Denmark.
Despite a range of health challenges including heart trouble, hearing impairment and particularly hip problems which severely impacted her mobility, Judy continued to play and coach table tennis right up until the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. I was amazed to find that, although she needed a walker to help her move around even quite slowly, she was still determined and able to play table tennis. I have no doubt it was the single most important thing that gave her a sense of meaning and identity and purpose throughout almost all of her 80 years.
Sadly the pandemic travel restrictions prevented Judy travelling to England for my father’s funeral in 2021, but I was able to speak to her on a number of occasions and keep in touch. Following a lengthy stay in hospital in 2022, Judy moved to the Flevohuis Nursing Home in Kramatplantsoen, and then last Autumn to Eben Haezer in Wisseloord. The manager there told me that although Judy was quiet, she was a friendly, warm and likeable resident. And last night we met one of her neighbours there who described Judy’s humour and the twinkle she had in her eye. I’m sure that’s how many of us will remember Judy. Someone who has had a positive impact on the lives of far more people than maybe we realise. Over the last week I’ve received many warm messages and fond memories from the table tennis community both here and in the UK. A life which has resonated through the decades. And even though my Aunt’s passing brings sadness, it’s a life I’m glad we can celebrate together today.