Judith Ann Kemp was first grade teacher

DOWNEY -- Judith Ann Kemp, a first grade teacher at Rio Hondo Elementary School in the Downey Unified School District for 35 years, died Feb. 15 after a seven-year battle with cancer. She was 66.She grew up on a farm north of Madison, S.D. She graduated from General Deadle High School in Madison and then Augustana College in Sioux Falls. She taught elementary education in Faribault, Minn. and then in Portland, Ore., where she met her future husband, Tom. They were married in Faribault on June 9, 1970 and came to live in Cerritos. She was preceded in death by her father, Edwin Dragseth, and her sister, Cynthia Stewart. She is survived by her husband, Tom; mother, Bernice Dragseth; sisters, Mary (Dean) Van Der Werf and Sonya (Dave) Thayer; nieces and nephews, Sara, Amy, Paul, Kelly, Jackie, Angie, Sally and Dan; mother- and father-in-laws, Wiley and Blanche Kemp; brothers-in-law, Jim (Barbara) and Mark (Laurie) Kemp; and other friends and family. A memorial service will be held tomorrow at 11 a.m. at El Dorado Park Community Church, 3655 N. Norwalk Blvd., in Long Beach. A final memorial service will be held at her hometown church March 7 at Lake Madison Lutheran Church in Madison, S.D. ********** Published: February 27, 2009 - Volume 7 - Issue 45