Dr. Judith Blasser-Faludy

As you read this obituary, please listen to the ‘Barefoot Diva,’ famed Cape Verdean fado singer
Cesaria Evora. Preferably, ‘Live à Paris, 1993,’ Judith’s fave. Being tipped off to this kind of
information is one of many intercultural, international gifts Judith brought to a friendship.

Dr. Judith Blasser-Faludy, (née Helga Blasser), a longtime Carrboro resident, passed away due to cardiac failure on May 28, 2023. Born in 1941 to Dr. Otto Blasser and Mrs. Magdalena Mesmer Blasser, Judith spent her early childhood in Munich, Germany, and the remainder of her youth in South Africa, where her parents dedicated themselves to missionary work for the needy.

Throughout her life, Judith kept this mission alive with her daily charity: feeding and caring for those in need. As a young woman, she even traveled to China as part of an early humanitarian outreach program.

Judith’s life was largely academic-driven. In 1974, she completed a degree in biological and zoological sciences at UCLA, where she later continued her postgraduate studies in the field of cell biology. Subsequently, she pursued a doctorate degree in dental surgery at McGill University in Montreal, where she applied for American Dental Board certification in 1984. She furthered her postgraduate education at the University of California, Davis.

Over the course of her professional career, Judith worked as a biotechnology researcher, scientist, and inventor. In a lifelong, characteristic spirit of charity, Dr. Blasser donated the patent rights for two breakthrough discoveries in human liver research, focusing on intercellular communication during the aging process, as seed money toward the establishment of a UNC Liver Center exclusively for the benefit of pediatric patients.

In the early 1980s, Judith moved to Carrboro, North Carolina, and she made the town her home for over forty years.

If you knew Judith, you most likely have a story, if you’re lucky, and it’s a shame if you don’t. She kept a bountiful garden, planted scores of trees, spread all manner of herbs and flowers all around town, and left a large circle of friends who will deeply miss her: Ana Guzmán, Lee Cantwell, Kim and Roger Willardson, Adela García de Hess, Nancy Jarrell, Sherri Ontjes, Roy Richardson, Bobby Garni, Charles DeBose, Sunshine Dunham—and her adopted “children”—Tony and Carolyn Hess, and Tommy Willardson.

A Memorial for Judith is planned for the fall. She would love it if you planted a tree somewhere
in her honor. Feel free to share your personal recollections or photos of Judith in the condolence
section.