Judith (Judy) Lee Bayless passed away on July 30, 2025. Judy was born on Sept. 14, 1941, in Great Bend, Kansas. She was raised on a farm northeast of Great Bend on the south side of Cheyenne Bottoms, a State Waterfowl Area. Her parents were Herbert Lee Cole, Jr. and Martha Elaine Cole (Weers). Judy was the fourth of five children and she attended grade school at a one-room school a short distance down the road from their farm.

Judy graduated from Great Bend High School in 1959. She attended Fort Hays Kansas State College for two years and then followed her sisters to Denver, CO where she worked as a secretary. A short time later, Judy moved with a girlfriend to Santa Barbara, CA where she worked for a military contractor.

In 1962, Judy moved to Logan, Utah and worked at Thiokol Corporation. Her brother, Max, and his friend, Stephen Bayless, were both students at Utah State University. When Stephen graduated in 1963, Judy and Steve married at the Presbyterian Church in Logan, Utah and left for Montana where Steve worked for the MT Fish and Game Dept.

Judy worked for the MT Dept. of Public Instruction in Helena and the Teamsters Union in Bozeman while Steve was in graduate school at Montana State College. She and Steve had three children, Heather, Shawn and Robyn. When Steve graduated from MSU in 1967 with a Master's Degree in Game Management, they moved to Havre where Steve worked as the Game Management Biologist in northern Montana for MT Fish and Game. Judy worked at KOJM Radio in Havre.

In 1971, Judy, Steve and family moved to Glasgow. Judy worked for KLTZ Radio for a short time before moving with her family to Helena where she worked for KBLL Radio. In 1976, Judy went to work for the Laboratory at St. Peter's Hospital. She held positions there as Deaner for the Lab Pathologists, Phlebotomist, and Lab Secretary. She retired from the Lab in 1990.

Judy was very active in their church, the First Presbyterian, where she served as a member of the Session and in a variety of positions with Presbyterian Women.

Judy is survived by her husband, Stephen, and their three children, Heather Duane (Joey) of Stella, N.C., Shawn (Patti) of Tok, AK, and Robyn Ward (Scott) of Aledo, TX, six grandchildren and six great- grandchildren.

Judy will always be remembered for her kind and generous nature and her quick wit. Private family services have taken place with the interment of ashes at Forestvale Cemetery.