Gerald "Judd" Juha fearlessly entered the world on March 26, 1949. He lived in Munising on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for several years before his family moved to Cleveland Ohio. He graduated high school in 1966 at the age of 17 and immediately enlisted in the US Army for a 3-year tour of service. Although it was the height of the Vietnam war, Judd was fortunate in that he spent his 3 years of service in Washington DC. After finishing his army service, he held several different jobs while he attended the University of Maryland on the GI Bill. He graduated in 1974 with a major in English and a minor in business. He married his first wife, Donna Cooper, in 1970. The marriage ended in 1976, the same year that he started work for the US Government in the US Navy Contracting Intern program. He met his wife, Annie Quinlan, in 1978 through work and they married in 1984. They moved to Athens Greece right after that where Annie started a job as a Contracting Officer for the US Air Force at Hellenikon Air Base. Judd later secured a job as the Contracting Officer overseeing construction projects for the Air Base. In 1988, he accepted a job in Frankfurt Germany as the head of contract compliance for a German subsidiary of a US company, Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE). They moved back to the Washington DC area in September 1990 and settled in Bethesda. Judd continued working for the company PAE as a consultant until 2010 when they moved to Cairo Egypt where Annie was assigned to the Cairo Mission of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). During their time in Egypt, Judd worked part-time as a consultant teaching USAID Contracting classes in various countries around the world. They were in Egypt during the Egyptian revolution in 2011 and were still there during the second revolution in 2013. At the end of 2013, they returned to their Bethesda home where they currently reside.
Judd was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in early 2015 and was told that, with chemo, he only had 6-12 months to live. He and Annie didn't accept that prognosis and fortunately found a warm, caring, and gifted oncologist named Dr. Julie Brahmer at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore MD. Under her care, Judd managed to live with his cancer for 5-1/2 years until this year when the lung cancer spread to his liver. He was hospitalized four times since late April this year and finally passed away peacefully at home on August 23 under the care of Hospice. Judd's passing left the world with fewer smiles. He had an amazing sense of humor and quick wit and always brightened a room when he entered.
Judd outlived his parents, Mike and Mariana, and older brother Michael. He is survived by his younger sister, Mary Louise Juha, his two nephews Jason and Damon Juha, as well as other uncles and cousins.
In lieu of flowers, gifts in Judd's memory may be directed to support Dr. Julie Brahmer at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore MD. Please make checks payable to Johns Hopkins University. Gifts may be mailed with a memo indicating that this gift is in memory of Gerald "Judd" Juha to the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Canter Center, PO Box 17029, Baltimore, MD 21297-1029 or make a gift online.