Judith Coles Vernon Obituary

Judith Coles Vernon passed away on March 8, 2026, at the age of 74, after living a full and fulfilling life. She was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, and raised in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. While living in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, she started a lifelong love affair with horses while playing with a burro owned by the family of her best friend in second grade

Judith attended Denison University in Granville, Ohio, where she studied theater and dance. On graduation, she moved to New York City. After working for a year as a dancer and choreographer, she turned to theater and performed in various repertory and Off-Broadway productions. Notably, she performed with the National Touring Company for Godspell, toured internationally with the Claude Kipnis Mime Company and appeared in episodes of Sesame Street and One Life to Live. She earned and retained lifelong memberships in the Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity.

In 1984, she married Robert Bruce Vernon, a lawyer with a New York City firm. In 1985, Judith left the "business" to raise her son outside the city and fulfill her dream of running a horse farm. The family moved to Warwick, New York, where for 15 years she lived her dream - breeding and training Arabian horses, standing an Egyptian Arabian stallion at stud and polishing her equestrian skills as a hunter jumper.

In 2000, Judith, her family and four horses moved to Matthews, North Carolina. She discovered a new love for ceramics, jewelry making and design, but her passion for riding never abated. She took up dressage as a discipline at the age of 60 and continued riding until 2024, when a debilitating illness forced her to stop.

To those who knew her, Judith was a force of nature. She was a devoted mother, loving wife and an incredibly talented, multi-disciplined artist. She was loving, passionate, and fiercely protective of the people in her life. She was the keeper of Nana's cookie recipes and the family historian, whose stories kept the past alive.

She will be missed.

Judith is survived by her husband of 42 years, her son, Christian, of Brooklyn, New York, her brother, D. Walter Coles, of Springhill, Florida, her sister Barbara Elie of Reston. Virginia, and several nieces and a nephew.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.