Judith Ann Senykoff, age 75, formerly of Dunnellon, FL passed away August 15, 2025 in The Good Samaritan Center in Live Oak, FL. Judy was born in Newport News, VA on March 10, 1950 to the late Chesleigh F. and Evelyn Berryman Saunders. She retired from the U.S. Dept. of State, Foreign Building Operations. During her career in federal service Judy, along with her husband Ron, a Foreign Service Officer in USAID, Dept. of State, served at US Embassies overseas in Kenya, East Africa, Pakistan, the Philippines and multiple times at headquarters in Washington, D.C. She was recognized for outstanding service managing American owned or leased foreign housing real estate. Prior to Judy’s government service, she also taught 5th grade at the International School in Islamabad, Pakistan. Her classes had students from as many as 15 countries. Judy especially loved serving in Girl Scouting. She held field executive positions with the Wilderness Roads and Palm Glades Girl Scout Councils in Kentucky and Florida. Working in Eastern Kentucky is especially memorable for Judy. In Kentucky her Girl Scout assignment focused on extending Girl Scouting into economically depressed and very rural mountain areas (Appalachia) in Eastern Kentucky. Judy, coordination closely with highly motivated rural women, enjoyed great success in establishing for the first time Girl Scouting in these poverty stricken areas of Kentucky. Here innovative and culturally sensitive field work in these areas was recognized at the national level by Girl Scouts USA. She received several national level awards because Girl Scouting, she was reaching needy young girls that never had an opportunity to become Girl Scouts. Judy had great fun in the field too. One unique activity way up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky was Jell-O wrestling. On one occasion Judy received a special invitation from several local “mountain women” to wrestle them in 50 gallons of red raspberry Jell-O treated with one gallon of cooking oil. As you can imagine, one needed a fire hose on water to wash down the Jell-O, but everybody had great fun. Importantly, this even help greatly to open up a new area for Girl Scouting.
While following along with Ron as he was posted overseas Judy enjoyed gaining international perspectives by living in very poor and developing countries. Likewise, she enjoyed the international travel, with the exception of having to be evacuated from Pakistan during the first Gulf War in 1990. Because the family got to live in multiple cultures for extended periods Judy loved associating with the local national people and thereby gained deeper insights to living and working in cross-cultural environment.
International work, while it is a unique opportunity, also has it negative affect on families. For Judy, this point was always difficult when 4 to 5 year assignments in a country made communication difficult and we were far from family. In the 1970s there was no internet or easy phone connections like today. Short wave radio with a “scratchy and weak signal” was a norm. The issue of distant family separations always caused Judy to feel out of contact and disconnected. This was especially true when our son and daughter graduated from high school and went off to college. However, while there were difficulties, Judy has always, as I, has been very proud of our children and their accomplishments where their successes, some hard won through difficult times because of being “Foreign Service Kids,” were gained. The family is now one that is distributed across four times zones with our son Ron and family in the east and our daughter and her family in the west of the United States.
Growing up in Marshall, Virginia Judy, having learned how to play the piano and organ from her mother she began playing for the local Methodist church when she was 12 years old. She, always being a volunteer piano or organist, played in almost all the churches we attended from the time she married Ron 55 years ago. Judy even had the opportunity to play some overseas. For example, she played old time Gospel hymns on a small Pakistani hand pump organ for a special old time revival service in Islamabad. Likewise, she also led in selecting the music and playing for the international community when a one year memorial service was held in Islamabad after the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers in New York. Church music, especially the traditional and great Christian Hymns, have always been close to Judy’s heart. As Judy was nearing the end of her life she maintained her deep faith in God and Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. She kept her eye on Jesus who is the “Light of the World.’
Judy will be missed for two special items she assembled in the kitchen. On some Saturdays she would bake a special golden brown German apple pancake that was very low in sugar. Fantastic! At other times, when the notion of ice cream was considered most important for the day, Judy would bake a unique sugar free alternative to regular rich and creamy dark chocolate ice cream. It was made from bananas, would you believe? So good….!
Left to cherish her memory is her husband of 55 years, Dr. Ronald S. Senykoff Sr.; 2 children: Ronald S. Senykoff Jr and his wife Holly of Harvard, MA and Heather Noel Neely and her husband Nicholas of Medford, OR; 1 sister, Betsey Spencer of Pittsburgh, PA; and 4 grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a brother, Christopher Saunders.
Graveside services are scheduled for Thursday, August 28, 2025 at 1:30 PM at Florida National Cemetery with burial following. A Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date at the Advent Christian Village Chapel in Live Oak, FL
The Chas. E. Davis Funeral Home of Inverness, FL assisted the family with funeral arrangements.
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