Former Oakville Aquatic Club coach Dave Judd died on October 7th after battling a brain tumor.
On August 1st, after Judd was unconscious when his wife woke up in the morning, doctors performed an operation to remove one tumor from his brain. A month later, on September 8th, further testing revealed 2 more tumors in his brain. He was transferred to hospice care, where he died on October 7th, peacefully.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support his wife and his 2 sons: link.
Below, see an obituary sent out to the team’s membership:
Sunday October 7th, Coach Dave Judd died peacefully at the Carpenter House hospice in Burlington.
The Oakville Aquatic Club lost one of our long standing coaches whose tireless efforts and determined approach to everything he did made an indelible mark on the club.
That word, Indelible, perfectly describes Coach Dave, as it means “making marks that cannot be removed” or “not able to be forgotten”.
Dave had been with OAK for 17 years and was beginning his 18th season. He was an integral part of the OAK fabric, contributing to our evolution for almost 2 decades.
He coached over 500 athletes, influencing lives and helping to develop young kids into young adults. Teaching the sport of swimming was only part of his impact.
As a staff member, Dave always had multiple views on any subject; he would see the things most of us missed, he would provide the other side of the argument and identify potential problems that may arise from the decisions we made around the table.
He was a consummate team player. Dave was always there to do what needed to be done; he would step up to come in to cover for a coach, he built racks for Vasa trainers and he just recently worked feverishly on our new bunker. Spending hours on demolition and strategizing ways to overcome some electrical challenges that posed potential hazards. Dave always thought of those things.
Dave was what I called “salt of the earth”…no baloney, no PC padding, no frivolous talk. You knew where you stood, you knew what he was thinking and could count on him to give you an honest answer or opinion when you asked him.
Just recently, it has come to light how great coaches can have a lasting impact on young people and go on to influence their lives. Just looking at all the names on the GOFUNDME page for Dave’s family shows me how much of an impact he has had.
I had the privelege of sharing the pool deck with him. He was such a great human being. He leaves behind a wife and 2 young children. I’ll have to hunt down the go fund me page and make another comment later.
https://ca.gofundme.com/support-the-judds
I submitted the link but I guess it was flagged. Maybe because it was just hyper link. Just google “go fund me Dave Judd”
Link is there now. 4 or 5 people submitted the link in a very short period of time, so I think that’s what triggered it. I’ve also added the link above. Thanks for sharing the page.
We can only hope to make contributions like this to young people. Wow. Someone to look up to.