Judy grew up in the small town of Boort and spent 30 years raising her family and running a local family business, fondly known as Judy’s Little Shop. After moving to Lockwood South, Judy and husband Jim set about restoring their bush block. They both loved gardening and learning about nature. This sparked Judy’s more than 25-year involvement in environmental restoration and community building projects in the
Mid-Loddon area.

Members of the Mid-Loddon Sub Catchment Management Group and its associated Landcare groups appreciated Judy’s work, commitment and dedication to the restoration of the region’s soils and natural environment. She was an outstanding Landcare Facilitator with tremendous energy and drive.

Judy was passionate about threatened species, particularly the bush stone-curlew. She raised significant funding for curlew conservation projects including building a predator proof fence so the birds could be released back into the bushland of Greater Bendigo. In a fitting sendoff curlew calls were played at Judy’s memorial service.

Judy’s legacy is visible across many successful Landcare projects in the region including the trees that line the roadsides of Ravenwood, which she saved from destruction during major infrastructure upgrades. 

In an interview with Make a Change Australia, Judy said; “my happy place in nature is in the forest, it’s peaceful. My favourite activity is being in the environment. The connection between people and the natural environment is absolutely necessary.”

The North Central Landcare Facilitators group was hugely appreciative of the experience, knowledge and formidable force that was Judy Crocker. She was only too happy to mentor and guide others wanting to follow in her footsteps and work on landscape restoration and threatened species protection.

Judy was the heartbeat of Landcare in our region and will be greatly missed.

Tess Grieves is a Project Manager with the North Central CMA.