Judith L. Harbaugh

Judy (Long) Harbaugh died Tuesday at 1:17 p.m., October 20, 2026 in her villa home at Ohio Living Swan Creek in South Toledo after a long fight against cancer. At the time of her death, her daughter, Molly, was at her bedside and her husband Bryce was close at hand, with the other members of her family in daily contact.

Judy was born in Independence Iowa, in January 1943, to parents Jim and Verna Long. Her early life was spent in North Carolina, where her father was a dean at Wake Forest University.

When Judy's father took up a position at the University of Toledo in 1959 Judy entered the area's newest high school: Rogers, graduating from that school in 1961, and going on to the University of Toledo. Judy was part of the varsity cheerleading squad at both schools, but was captain of the Rogers squad.

It was during that time that Judy found a place on the YMCA Storer Camps summer staff, becoming a Village Director in 1962 and a Travel Trips Leader in 1963. It was on a '63 travel trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming that she met her future husband, Bryce Harbaugh.

Judy finished her college career at the University of New Hampshire and undertook graduate studies in movement education in England, and then returned to the states and took a teaching position at a grade school in the state of Oregon, where she revitalized their entire physical education program, demonstrating a knack for teaching and contagious enthusiasm that would characterize her entire career.

Bryce and Judy were engaged just before Bryce left for Vietnam, and they were married on his safe return in November of 1968.

After a year in Dahlonega, Georgia at the Ranger training camp, where Judy taught at a local school, the couple made their way to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan. Judy continued teaching grade school students to love physical education as Bryce studied Chinese.

Two years later, the young Harbaughs, now with a 2 month old Molly, relocated to an intensive language program in Taipei, Taiwan; Judy taught English to a cadre of young women who soon became fast friends.

On their return to the States, Judy and Bryce decided to return to the YMCA, which had first brought them together.

After four years as senior staff at Storer the Harbaughs, now with Molly and their 2nd child, Will, age 2, took on the leadership of a fledgling YMCA in Defiance, Ohio.

Judy's strengths as a teacher, a leader, a model of what good fitness looks like, and a consummate sales person were crucial to establishing the Defiance YMCA as one of the leading small town Y's in northwest Ohio.

After 8 years in Defiance, Judy turned those skills, with Bryce, to 30 years of success with Leadership Management International, once again focusing on helping others learn how to succeed on purpose

In those years, Judy distinguished herself as one of the all time best sellers of LMI products in the U.S. She also inspired the creation of an LMI award given to the U.S. Franchise whose behavior at work most exhibits a "Servant's Heart." In that career, she worked with over 300 Defiance and Toledo firms and helped them move toward authentic success.

Judy was also a the quintessential volunteer: bringing her teaching skills, her leadership abilities, and infectious enthusiasm for making the world a better place into each assignment she accepted. She served formally as Board Chair for YMCA Storer Camps, as a committee chair for her P.E.O. International chapter, as a leader in Storer scholarship fundraising, and as a deacon, elder, and chairperson for the First Presbyterian Church of Maumee - and also informally as a mentor for countless people in those organizations.

Judy leaves behind her husband of 57 years, Bryce; her children Molly and Will; their spouses Myra Hope and Hannah, and her two granddaughters Hadley and Charlotte, as well as host of satisfied clients, organizational colleagues, friends and admirers.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any donations be made to the YMCA Storer Camps Scholarship Fund in memory of Judy Harbaugh. (YMCA Storer Camps, 6941 N. Stony Lake Road, Jackson MI 49201).