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Beloved English and Piano Teacher

Judith LaFollette Sorem 鈥�50

July 6, 2025, in Pullman, Washington.

Judy was born in 1928 in Wisconsin to Isabelle Bacon LaFollette and Phillip Fox LaFollette, who served two terms as governor of Wisconsin. After high school graduation, Judy moved out west to pursue an education at Reed, where she remained for two years before returning to her home state.

After a year at the University of Wisconsin and a secretarial course in New York City, Judy moved to Minneapolis, where she worked for several years for Sears and met her first husband, geologist Ronald Sorem. Judy and Ronald married in 1953 and lived in the Philippines for two years, where their daughter Kaia was born.

Upon moving back to the United States, Judy and Ronald had sons Keith, Sam, and Tom, and settled in Pullman, Washington. Judy spent years as a homemaker and piano teacher before moving to work outside the home at local businesses such as the Pullman Herald, the Bank of Pullman, the Neill Public Library, Seattle-First Bank, and Washington State University.

Judy ultimately returned to school at WSU, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English. She taught for a year at the College of Eastern Utah, then moved back to Pullman and taught in the WSU English department for a decade before retiring in 1994.

After she and Ron divorced in 2000, Judy married retired chemistry professor Maurice Windsor in 2003. She was preceded in death by Maurice and is survived by her four children.

Appeared in Reed magazine: Spring 2026