Memorial Service to be Held for Judy Condict, Alumna and College's Longest-Serving Staff Member
A memorial service for longtime Colby-Sawyer College staff member and alumna Judith (Pond) Condict will be held June 20 at 2 p.m. in Wheeler Hall at the Ware Campus Center, Colby-Sawyer College, New London. A brief committal service will follow immediately after at the Old Main Street Cemetery in New London.
At the time of her death on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008, Condict was the director of Institutional Research and the college's longest-serving staff member. She died at age 67 at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., after a long struggle with cancer.
She joined Colby Junior College in July 1970 as a financial aid officer and then moved on to serve as the director of Financial Aid for more than two decades. Since 1994, she had served in the position of director of Institutional Research.
Condict was a graduate of the Colby Junior College Class of 1962, where she studied medical records administration. She was the valedictorian of her class and received awards in English, history and for overall scholastic achievement. She also played basketball, performed in plays, and was involved in the Glee Club, Newman Club and public speaking, as well as participated in essay contests. She went on to earn a B.S. in 1963 from the Massachusetts General Hospital School for Medical Record Librarians.
Born in New London, N.H., on Aug. 8, 1941, she was the daughter of Harry and Evelyn (Berube) Pond. Following her graduation from Colby Junior College, she married Edgar R. Condict. Together they raised three children, Carolyn, Robert and Edgar.
While serving as director of Financial Aid, Condict was active among professional associations in the field. She was appointed to the New England Regional Assembly's Executive Committee for its Financial Aid Division in April 1974 and was elected secretary/treasurer of the Eastern Association Student Financial Aid Administrators in July 1977. For 23 years (from 1975-1998), she served on the board of the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation, including a term as chair of its Compensation Committee. In the 1970s, she also served as the alumnae representative to the college's Faculty Council.
As the college's director of Institutional Research, a newly created position in 1994 that she was the first to occupy, Condict took on important responsibilities that met both external requirements and internal needs. On the one hand, she gathered information and created reports for a variety of government and academic agencies, and on the other, she generated data and reports for college offices and departments that were vital for planning and program reviews.
Deborah Taylor, academic vice president and dean of faculty, has known and worked with Judy for decades, and always appreciated her precision, accuracy and enthusiasm for her work.
“One of the things I've always admired about Judy is her precision in all she was asked to do. She always made sure she fully understood the questions and what was being asked of her before gathering the research that was needed,” Vice President Taylor said. “But I also appreciated that she approached institutional research with genuine excitement and a sense of adventure. She was excited about the information she was researching and producing and the uses to which it would be put. I found her a really good colleague, and a wonderful person. Her response to any request was always, 'yes, we can do that.'”
Treasurer Doug Lyon had known and worked with Condict for 35 years, since he joined the New Hampshire College and University Council in 1972. Recently, in communications with Judy's husband during her illness, Lyon was reminded of Condict's enduring affection for and devotion to the college. He told her family that he was very aware of her love for Colby-Sawyer and her steadfast commitment to the college's well-being, and assured them that she was greatly valued here and has long been an important part of the college's success.
Lyon believes the college has lost an invaluable part of its institutional memory with Condict's passing. “For me personally, Judy was the historical expert on Colby-Sawyer; her memory was prodigious of all things Colby-Sawyer. She was a great source of information for me on virtually any topic,” he said. 'She was a stickler for accuracy; anything she provided to us had to be correct and consistent. She did a wonderful job as the institutional research director.”
President Tom Galligan recalls Condict's love for the college and her dedication to her work. “Judy was a fabulous member of the Colby-Sawyer family and we all cherish her friendship and her devotion to this wonderful institution. She will always be a part of this great place,” he said. “Personally, I will always remember the warm and wonderful welcome she provided to me when I came to campus, and most wonderfully and eloquently, in her presentation at the Commencement and Investiture in 2007.”
Judy Condict is survived by her husband of 46 years, Edgar R. Condict of New London; their children, Carolyn Boisvert and her husband, Benjamin, Robert Condict and his wife, Alyson, and Edgar R. Condict Jr.; grandsons, Connor Condict and Kevin Condict; and many cousins, nephews and nieces.
Chadwick Funeral Service of New London, N.H., assisted the family with arrangements.
Memorial contributions may be made to Colby-Sawyer College, 541 Main Street, New London, NH 03257, or to Norris Cotton Cancer Center, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756 or to Lake Sunapee Region Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice, P.O. Box 2209, New London, NH 03257.
