Judith Amelia (Hallock) Hoy, 85, passed away in the afternoon, Friday, January 17, 2025, at home with her husband of 58 years Robert by her side.
Judy was born in Pierre, South Dakota, on January 3, 1940, the firstborn of Marjorie Millard Hallock and Graydon Bates Hallock of rural Todd County, SD. Judy connected with animals very early and liked to draw, an interest in which she learned to observe details that escape most others. She graduated as Valedictorian from Todd County High School in 1957, but careers for teenage girls in the 1950s were few. After two years of college, Judy began nurses’ training at St. Luke’s Hospital in Denver, Colorado. While working in the nursery for six months, she found that an earlier injury to her left knee meant standing or walking for eight hours a day was too painful, so she switched to elementary education. Judy taught for a year in a one-room country school, then returned to college to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Science and Elementary Education from Yankton College in 1963. She moved with her family to Missoula, Montana, in summer 1963, and taught fourth grade at Russell school. In 1964, she met Robert Hoy, who was studying for a degree in Wildlife Conservation in the University of Montana. Judy and Bob were married on June 4, 1966. Bob’s first assignment was as game warden for Phillips County in northeastern Montana, where the expansive prairies yielded abundant fossils and artifacts. Judy wrote her first scientific papers, documenting Native American sites for the Montana Archaeological Society. She experimented with Native American painting techniques, using ochre and charcoal on sandstone. And she continued to teach, this time fifth graders.
Bob was transferred to the Missoula District Office of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks in 1967. Judy resumed teaching in Missoula and also began to rehabilitate wildlife, mostly birds. In 1975, Judy left formal teaching to pursue her passions for wildlife art and rehabilitation. That year, she documented the first fledgling Flammulated Owl ever reported in Montana, which initiated a ten-year crusade to get these owls listed by the U.S. Forest Service as Species of Special Concern. In 1979, Bob was transferred to Ravalli County. They purchased land and built a modest log home overlooking Willoughby Creek southeast of Stevensville, on the east side of the Bitterroot Valley. Judy continued with wildlife rescue and care, and also made frequent educational presentations about wild birds and wildlife ecology to schools, churches, civic clubs and other organizations. In recognition of her contributions as both a wildlife rehabilitator and community educator, in June 1994, the Director of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks presented Judy with a framed letter of commendation that read (in part): “Dear Judy: It takes a special gift of dedication and kindness to care for orphaned and injured wildlife. Since 1968, you have shared that gift, perhaps more than anyone else in Montana, with unselfish dedication. … On behalf of Montana’s wildlife, its citizens, and the department, I thank you for sharing your kindness and dedication. Sincerely, Patrick J. Graham, Director”
Judy became increasingly involved in educating the public about wildlife and threats to the Western Montana environment. She built a network of contacts in the news media, in academia, among health professionals and in government agencies. She recorded many first records for Ravalli County of butterflies, plants and mosses, as well as several first state records. Then in summer of 1994, all juvenile Yellow-bellied Marmot on their property died suddenly. Documenting health problems and anomalous die-offs in Western Montana wildlife and trying to determine the causes again changed the focus of Judy’s life. Judy published her book, “Changing Faces: The Consequences of Exposure to Gene and Thyroid Disrupting Toxins,” in 2017, as well as several scientific papers, in collaboration with established researchers. Her most recent paper, published in early 2024 in Chemosphere, reviewed regional observations of declines in a variety of wildlife species that corresponded in time with huge increases in use of known endocrine-disrupting agrichemicals upwind of western Montana and Wyoming.
Judy is survived by her husband Robert (Bob) Hoy and her sisters Pamela Hallock Muller of St. Petersburg, Florida, and Nancy Hallock Miller of Lolo, Montana. Brothers Mortuary is honored to care for Mrs. Hoy. Memories and condolences may be shared at www.brothersmortuary.com
