Judy Greathouse, 84, of Hermitage, Tennessee, passed away 18 January 2022. She was the widow of General Superintendent Emeritus William Greathouse. 

Judith Jeanenne Willis was born May 12, 1937, in Klamath Falls, Oregon, the only child of Harold and Mae Willis. At age 3, her life changed when her parents became acquainted with a local Nazarene pastor’s wife who invited them to church. There, they accepted Christ and very soon took on calls into ministry. Over the next 13 years, Judy followed her parents to their places of itinerant evangelism.

When she was 16, she married and started her own family and raised her children (Greg, Sandy, and Paul) on a farm in Missouri. During those years, she was active in her church as a pianist. She also worked with the youth and had a great influence on the young girls in the church. There, she made lifelong friends who remained close for the rest of her life.

In 1980, she moved to Olathe, Kansas, with her two youngest children and began life as a single parent. She earned a living by working for many years in the retail grocery business and gained the respect and trust of her managers and coworkers.

She moved to Nampa, Idaho, in 1993 to be near her aging parents. While there, she continued to work in retail grocery. She always considered her work to be her ministry. When required to work on Sunday, she dressed up and kept Sabbath the best she knew.

Judy had a burden for hungry people. She would often give money to those who approached on the street for a meal. She cooked for her growing family, and even during the lean years, she cooked for hungry college students who would come to her home on Sunday afternoon. 

In 2004, her life radically changed again when she married William Greathouse, the love of her life. She packed up her parents and moved to Nashville, where she spent her remaining years. 

In the years that followed, Judy became a caregiver. She cared for her parents until they needed to enter a care facility. She visited them each day and did anything she could to ease their journey to heaven. Her greatest joy, however, was caring for her “Bill.”

The two shared a deep and abiding love. She closely guarded his time as he worked on the Romans commentary and accompanied him to many events, simply content to be in the background. The important thing was just to be with him. 

The time came when her ministry as a caregiver was finished and her loves were safely in heaven. However, her health deteriorated; she was diagnosed with dementia in 2018 and lost a beloved grandson in 2019. 

Judy was preceded in death by her husband, William Greathouse; parents, Harold J. and Mae Willis; and grandson, Trey Blackman. She is survived by her sons, Greg and Paul Meadows; daughter, Sandy (Jimmy) Blackman; and grandsons, Billy and Nathan.