Judy Gass Lopus

“Judy was a phenomenal teacher & worked very hard at recording the history of her ancestry & hometown of Romeo, but the one thing she was most passionate about was nature.  Judy decided to further her education & go to MSU to get her master’s degree in Environmental Studies.  I know she stayed with friends in East Lansing, but I’m not sure how Dad managed with us 3 kids on his own in Romeo.  I’m guessing grandma helped a lot.  

Let me ask you something, how many of you have been driving down the road with your mom & she asked you to quickly pull over? She spotted a turtle in the road.  She hops out of the car & picks up the turtle & carries it across the road in the direction it was heading & into the grass.   That happened to me! She was always looking out for wildlife.    

Mom knew the names of all plants, trees, birds, insects, & animals.  If she didn’t know, she figured it out. She also loved stargazing & looking for different constellations.  She was always looking for someone to venture out with on a clear night.   She had so much enthusiasm about nature that it was hard to not enjoy what she was sharing.  She made it fun!

Mom & Dad had a second lot next to our home in Romeo that they left natural.  Mom transplanted many native wildflowers there & Dad mowed paths through the beautiful space.  Mom had her very own nature area.  She loved to take people down the paths & point out various plants and trees.  

I’m not sure when Mom received the nickname “Mother Nature,” but she had it as long as I can remember.  She taught nature at Whispering Woods for the girl scouts, she was a member of Seven Ponds Nature Center, she taught classes at a women’s retreat & was a Dean at Camp Talahi. Camp Talahi was affiliated with her church, & she attended camp there as a young girl, she then went on to be a camp counselor & returned years later as Dean and naturalist. Each of us kids attended Camp Talahi, often bringing a friend along.  She would take us on night rope hikes where we would listen for night sounds and weave our way through the woods, ending the night at a roaring campfire where she would delight us with a s’more & some ghost stories.  During the day, she taught several nature courses, & everyone would sign up to take them. And of course, she carried her love of nature into her classroom.  

We were always taught to leave nature the way we found it.  To pick up any litter & dispose of it in the correct receptacle. She was big into recycling & taught it in her classroom as well. 

Judy would gasp with delight when she would see a gorgeous fall tree, a stunning magnolia in full bloom, or a vibrant sunset. During the holidays, Judy collected fallen acorns, nuts, leaves, & pinecones to spray paint gold & decorate around the house. She loved bringing nature indoors. She would often tuck a gold leaf in each of her Christmas cards.  She has friends that have collected them over the years. As a family we would lay them on the Christmas tree branches as a little sparkling piece of nature to admire.  She never took nature’s beauty for granted!

Mom would get frustrated when healthy trees were cut down, especially very old healthy trees.  When Mom was 73 yrs old, she noticed the landmark tree at the VanHoutte Farm stand on Van Dyke was marked with a big pink “X” which meant it was to be cut down.  Mom wasn’t going to let that happen without a fight, so she put a sign on it that read, “I’m 300 years on this Earth. Don’t cut me down!” She added the MDOT phone number so others could share their thoughts.  After receiving many calls & emails, it was decided the tree could stay.  Nine years later, just before Mom passed, we held a book signing that George VanHoutte attended.  He looked at me & said, “She saved my tree!” You could tell how grateful he was, & it was a moment I will never forget.

Mom was always very concerned about the decline of Monarch butterflies.  Monarchs rely on milkweed as a host plant for their larva, so naturally Mom would take milkweed pods with her in the car.  As a passenger, she would ask the driver to slow down, and she would hold a milkweed pod out the window and let all the seeds float away like little parachutes to land in the grass. I like to believe that she has made a difference in the future of Monarchs. As you see milkweed along the side of the road, think of Judy Lopus.  

She was a wonderful lady who lived life to its fullest! She had many gifts, and she shared them constantly! “Mother Nature” would have posted a sign on the beautiful green space on Prospect Street, I’m not sure what the sign would say but it would be in support of creating a beautiful space full of nature and wildlife for all to share, learn, and enjoy!  

I want to say thank you for letting me share how special my Mom was with all of you. I have enjoyed reliving these special memories. 

In honor of my Mom, I am pledging $1000 to GSOPS: Green Space on Prospect. I encourage you to contribute any amount if you can in honor of Romeo’s very own and beloved “Mother Nature!”  

Photo credit: Laura Lopus Gourlay