PORTLAND, Ore. — Judith Ann Froats (nee Smalley) died peacefully at Providence St. Vincent’s Hospital in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009, after a brief illness. She was 82.
Daughter of CatherineYoung Robertson and Alvin Keenan Smalley, Judith Ann was born Sept. 15, 1927, in Stamford, Conn.

She is survived by her three children; Melissa Kenan Stephenson of Peterborough, and her children, Cyrus Robert Stephenson and Hannah MacGregor Stephenson; Dr. Margaret Helen Eichler of Portland, Ore., and her partner Dr. Carol Doyle; and Robert S. Eichler and his wife, Martha (Anderson), and their daughters Caroline Anderson Eichler and Tory Redfern Eichler, also of Peterborough.

Judith attended Centenary Junior College, and the University of Dayton. Her Dayton relatives include her first cousins Cyrus W. Spurlino, his sister Nanette Spurlino Byrum and their extended families. A half-brother, Peter Smalley of Berkeley, Calif., and half-sister Wendy Reinan of Las Vegas, Nevada, also survive her.

As a young woman, Judith worked for McCall’s Magazine in Dayton, Ohio, prior to marrying Jack H. Eichler in 1947. The marriage ended in divorce. Together they not only raised their three children but also were foster parents to four infants prior to their adoptions. She loved babies and children and could always suggest just the right book for anyone to read.

After moving to Westport, Conn., with her family in 1963, Judith earned her teaching degree at Danbury State Teachers’ College and taught elementary school for many years in Somers, N.Y., and in Fort Myers, Fla. Later, she moved to Reno, Nev., and married Jack Froats, who predeceased her. She spent her later years in Portland, Ore.

A memorial service will be held in Portland at Hearthstone at Murray Hill on Friday, Dec. 18, at 10:30 a.m.