Judith A Miles

Judith A. “Judy” Mugge Miles

Formerly of Calumet, Iowa and Sioux Falls, South Dakota

 Memorial services for Judith A. “Judy” Mugge Miles, age 67, formerly of Calumet, Iowa and Sioux Falls, South Dakota who passed away on Friday, October 25, 2024, at Heartland Care Center in Marcus. A celebration of life will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Friday, November 22, 2024, at Oakdale Evangelical Free Church in rural Meriden.

To view Judy's service via livestream, please visit this link:  https://oakdalechurch.com/live-stream

 Private burial will take place at Liberty Township Cemetery in Calumet.

 Visitation with family present will be from 5 to 7 P.M. on Thursday, November 21, 2024, at Eldridge Family Funeral Home in Paullina.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Judy's name may be directed to the Brain Injury Association of America. 

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 Judith Ann Mugge Miles, the daughter of Lyle and Mildred (Yoakam) Mugge, was born February 13, 1957, in Cherokee, Iowa. She spent her childhood years on the family farm near Calumet, Iowa, was confirmed at the United Church of Christ in Calumet, and graduated from Sutherland Community High School in 1975. 

 After high school, Judy studied nursing at Augustana College (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) and then Morningside College (Sioux City, Iowa), where she received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in 1980. That year was an eventful one, during which she married Jeffrey John Miles in Spencer, Iowa, and the couple moved to Des Moines, where Judy worked as a nurse. Judy and Jeff welcomed a son, Nick, to their home in 1989, and the family moved in 1992 to Sioux City, where Judy worked as a hospice nurse. Following another move, to Sioux Falls, in 1998, Judy continued her career as an insurance case manager and then as a radiation oncology nurse. Judy had a lifelong love of music – playing the clarinet and piano in high school and singing in choirs in high school, college, and church as an adult. She also loved animals – caring for a diverse clowder of farmyard cats, each one named, during her youth, and continuing to bond with family dogs and cats as an adult.

 Judy’s life took a dramatic turn in 2011 when she was seriously injured in a pedestrian-vehicular accident in Sioux Falls. Although left with reduced mobility and unable to speak, Judy did not despair. She worked tirelessly to regain as much as possible of what she had lost. Though unable to speak verbally, she spoke nonverbal volumes with her eyes and body language and expressed herself graphically through her paintings. Judy faced innumerable challenges and met every one with faith, courage, and grace. She exhibited a remarkable fortitude in the face of her physical trials. Each test, every procedure, each surgery and diagnosis, was just another bump in the road. 

 Judy passed away on October 25, 2024, at a hospice care center in Marcus, Iowa, at the age of 67. She was preceded in death by her parents and by her husband Jeff in 2006.

 Left to cherish her memory are her beloved son Nick of Sioux Falls and her three brothers: Wayne Mugge and his wife Emily of Waterville, Iowa; Paul Mugge and his wife Karen of Sutherland, Iowa; and John Mugge and his partner Kevin Cessna-Buscemi of Chicago, Illinois. She is also remembered fondly by many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews, and by numerous other relatives and friends.