Biography

Judith Jongewaard Layne was born in 1918 in Fergus County, Montana to Dr. Albert Cornelius and Johanna "Anna" Jongewaard. She was the sixth out of eight children. The Jongewaard family had previously lived in Sioux Center, Iowa before Judith Jongewaard was born, and moved back to Sioux Center in the mid-1920s. Jongewaard attended school in Sioux Center for all twelve grades and graduated from Sioux Center High School in 1936. Throughout her entire school career, Jongewaard was involved in multiple extracurricular activities that revolved around music and theatre. She took music lessons from Mrs. Henry De Kray for several years and participated in local talent competitions in 1931 and 1932. In 1935, Jongewaard participated in the Iowa High School Music Festival in Iowa City, Iowa, and on multiple occasions she appeared on stage in high school productions. After graduation, Jongewaard taught in a one-room school house in Lebanon, Iowa and then was a nursemaid in Chicago. In 1938, Jongewaard's father passed away and she began to attend Santa Monica Junior College in Santa Monica, California. She met her husband, Bruce Layne, at Santa Monica Junior College, and graduated in 1939. Judith and Bruce Layne had two daughters born in 1940 and 1942. The Layne family moved back and forth between California and Washington multiple times throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. For some time between these moves, Judith Layne worked on station operations for United Airlines at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. In 1976, Bruce Layne passed away in Seattle, Washington. Judith Jongewaard Layne passed away in 1994 in Seattle, Washington.

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