Judith C. Kraen

Judith Kraen died on September 18, 2025, at Edgewood Meadow Winds in Casper, Wyoming.

Judith Claudette Kraen "Judy" was born on January 17, 1944, in Buffalo, Wyoming, the third daughter of six girls born to Herman and Virginia (Bates) Kraen. Her early years in Buffalo were spent in the company of a large extended family. She especially enjoyed spending summers with her grandparents, Claude and Rosie Bates at their home in Clearmont, Wyoming.

When she was eight years old her family moved to Casper, Wyoming. She attended St. Anthony's grade school and graduated from Natrona County High School in 1962.

At the age of 18, Judy joined the novitiate of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dubuque, Iowa, and spent six years as a Catholic nun. She earned degrees in Secondary Education and English studying at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Mundelein College in Chicago, Illinois.

She left the convent in 1968, returning to school at Casper College and the University of Wyoming for nursing prerequisites. Then for three years she taught in high schools in Clearmont and Yoder, Wyoming, and at St. Anthony's grade school in Casper.

Her life took a tum when she returned to Iowa and earned a BSN in Nursing at Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She returned to Wyoming in 1978 to be close to family and to pursue her new profession, which turned out to be the true calling of her life.

Judy worked as an R.N. in Labor and Delivery for 30 years at Wyoming Medical Center. She loved the babies! One of the joys in her life was working with newborns, assisting in their birth and then readying them to go home with their parents.

She enjoyed extended family activities, staying at mountain cabins in the summer, canoeing on the Platte River and playing the slots in Deadwood. She shared her home with a whole parade of cats, each of whom she loved dearly.

After retirement she kept busy with friends and family. She became her mother's main caregiver. She lived close by and her involvement allowed her Mom to stay living at home in her later years.

Judy was preceded in death by her grandparents: Claude and Rosie Bates and Louis and Johanna Kraen; her parents, Herman and Virginia Kraen; her oldest sister, Janet; her oldest nephew, Donald Goodman; great-nephew, Noah Barnett; brothers-in-law Ed Mackler, Joe Goodman, and Don Karsky; nephews-in-law Russell Cowdin, Erin Sorrell, Seth Bishop and Anthony Read; and six cats.

She is survived by sisters: Joan Anderson (Tom), Jolyn Wynn (George), Jerri Harris (John) all of Casper, and Jamie Bodyfelt (Larry) of Rock Springs, 14 nieces and nephews, and 17 great nieces and nephews.

Judy was unique: smart, generous, stubborn, strongly independent and with a great sense of humor. When her memory started fading she moved to Memory Care at Edgewood Meadow Winds. She loved and was loved and her family and friends will miss her forever.

Bustard's Funeral Home is handling arrangements, though, as per Judy's request, there will be no services. Burial will be in the Kraen family plot in Willow Grove Cemetery in Buffalo, Wyoming.

Memorials in Judy's memory may be made to: Casper College Foundation, 125 College Drive, Casper, WY 82601, to be designated for the Kraen Family Scholarship.