Where Are They Now?

When Judy Walls Kindred was in her late 20s, she fell seriously ill. Her doctors told her family that there was nothing more they could do for her. Miraculously, though, she recovered, and went back to her life with a new perspective.

“When you look death in the face and you come back on the other side, your whole life changes,” she said. You realize your material possessions don’t matter. What matters is your life and your family.”

Kindred graduated from Dublin High School in 1970, and went on to Tarleton to study home economics. At Tarleton, she was active in the social scene, participating in the all-women O.W.L.S. social club, and eventually serving as the club’s president from 1972-1973.

Kindred graduated with her bachelors degree in 1976, and went to work at the Dublin hospital as the hospital’s first ward clerk. “In other words, I was kind of the secretary,” she said.

After a while she moved into the hospital’s business office. “My work for several years was working with insurance companies filing claims, because you had to do it manually back then,” she said.

When the Dublin hospital closed, Kindred and many other employees transferred over to the Stephenville hospital. There, Kindred worked as a data processor.

At the hospital in Stephenville, she met the man who would become her husband, a stone-faced X-ray director named Hugh Kindred. “He was always frowning, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna make it my mission to make that guy smile if it kills me,’” Kindred said. “So one day he was coming off of the elevator and I was going on, and he actually looked up and smiled. So that’s how our little love story began.”

The Kindreds married in 1990 and moved to California, where Kindred started working for a chiropractic office, helping doctors with physical therapy and handling computer work that involved insurance.

“I really enjoyed working for the chiropractor,” she said. “I liked the interaction with the patients, as well as the doctors.”

She stayed at the chiropractic office for 11 years, then left to devote more of her time to taking care of her father-in-law, who had recently moved in with the couple.

“After his death, I stayed at home for a year or two, until a good friend of mine who I met through the chiropractic office asked me to come help her at an insurance brokerage in Lancaster (CA),” Kindred said.

The insurance company was relatively new, and Kindred was responsible for learning the computer program that the company would use. “It was a very, very interesting time, not only being given the privilege of being the one to learn it first and having all the working knowledge of the ins and outs of it, but then being able to say, ‘Okay, this is the way you handle the business from this day forward,’” she said. “It was a very good teaching experience for me.”

The company also allowed her to set her own hours, which gave Kindred the chance to start a new hobby with her husband: drag racing. They got into racing through a local repair store.

“I had a Ford Escort and I started having some issues with it, so we took it to a mechanic who did some drag racing outside of town,” she said. “He was building his business, and that’s basically where we got involved with racing. He took over my 95 Mustang, and made it into a nine second drag car.”

Kindren and her husband would take the car to the Las Vegas strip to race. Soon Hugh built out his own car, and one of his sons joined in to race. “It became a family affair,” Kindred said. “We really loved racing.”

Kindred retired after three years at the insurance company, and she and her husband moved back to Texas to help take care of her mother before she went to the nursing home.

Now, they live near Stephenville and Kindred spends most of her time gardening, reading, working on the property or traveling. “Hugh and I love to travel,” she said. “We’ve been to Zermatt, Switzerland, Austria, we honeymooned in London and Paris.”

Kindred’s husband has five children from a previous marriage, and the Kindreds have grandchildren and great grandchildren all across the country.

Throughout her life, Kindred has drawn inspiration from her mother and grandmother, and from her faith. “Being a Christian, I’m inspired by the things that God has given us and the things that he has made,” she said. “I love to set out here on the patio and watch my squirrels do acrobatic acts in the morning.”

Kindred’s advice to Dublin graduates is to get an education, whether that means technical school or college. “If you do go to college, get involved in activities, whether it be a service club or groups like the math club or science club,” she said. “Not only will it help form lasting friendships but it will broaden your horizons.”

“And worship God, that will help you get through the tough times,” she added. “Get an education and stay close to your faith.

Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.