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Judy O’Connell Obituary – 8/16/2017


Judith “Judy” (Eder) O’Connell, age 79, of Delano, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, at The Lutheran Home in Belle Plaine.

Services will take place Saturday, Sept. 2, at 11 a.m. at Guardian Angels Church in Chaska; with visitation one hour prior to the services, at 10 a.m.

Judy was born June 14, 1938, in Hennepin County, to Herb and Loretta (Geiser) Eder. She was the youngest of four children, having a sister, Mary, and brothers James “Jimmy,” and Jerome “Pat.” Jimmy was lost from an infection at an early age in 1935.

Judy spent her early years in Chaska with her parents and siblings, and enjoyed growing up in a small town atmosphere. She often reminisced how she and her siblings made frequent trips to the Chaska Bakery to get their “famous coffee cake,” or went to Lake Bavaria after it rained to catch frogs.

Judy loved to ride horses; she trained and showed horses at the Minnesota State Fair for many years.

She graduated from Guardian Angels School in Chaska, and later married Gary Turen, in October of 1961. Gary and Judy had three children together; Dave, Dan and Tracy., They parted ways after 22 years of marriage.

Judy met her current husband, Ed, in 1984. The couple immediately formed a strong bond together and decided to marry Feb. 10, 1985. They lived together on a dairy farm in Waverly, where Judy would continue her love for horses and would ride as often as possible.

Judy shared a love for dogs with Ed, and they quickly enjoyed a hobby of breeding Shetland sheepdogs (shelties) for many years.

Ed and Judy retired from farming permanently in the early 1990s, and moved with their dogs to Chandler, AZ, where Judy continued to help Ed with their dogs and breeding Sheltie puppies for nearly 25 years.

Judy loved to travel, and she went with Ed on many trips early in their marriage. After moving to Arizona, they would often have summer house guests as their grandchildren would often visit for long periods of time due to the distance between Minnesota and Arizona.

Judy continued her love for traveling with her grandson, Marcus, and went on trips throughout the country almost every summer. Even though she couldn’t partake in many of the amusement rides; her favorite activity was to watch the crazy things her grandson would ride, or just sit and watch people for hours.

Judy is remembered as being feisty and thick-skinned by her friends and family; and it was very common for her to give her two-cents in any story or situation. Her witty humor, lively personality, and caring attitude will be missed by all of those that she encountered. Even though it sometimes seemed that she had a hard shell; her heart was pure, generous and loving.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Loretta and Herb; and her brother, Jimmy and Pat Eder.

Judy is survived by her husband, Ed; sister Mary (Eder) Bahr; children, Dave Turen of Shakopee, Dan (Vicki) Turen of Welch, and Tracy (Charles) Pilson of North Carolina; grandchildren Marcus Turen of Minneapolis, Danielle (Brian) Pearson of Shakopee, Tara Turen of Shakopee, and Claire and Robert Pilson; great-grandchildren Vincent and Vivienne Pearson; as well as many other loved relatives and friends.

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