Judy Fontenelle

Lydia “Judy” Fontenelle, Ph.D., was born on May 28, 1938, in New Orleans, Louisiana to the late Lydia Dragon and Leon J. Fontenelle, Sr. Judy was a devoted sister to the late Leon Joseph, Jr., James Francis, Bernard Louis and Bettie June Fontenelle.

Judy graduated from LSU with a B.S. in Mathematics and Science Education in 1960. After teaching for a short period of time in the Louisiana public school system, she accepted a National Institute of Health Fellowship to Tulane University. In 1967 she was awarded a Ph. D. in Biochemistry from Tulane. She then accepted a Postdoctoral Fellowship to the McEachern Cancer Research Laboratory of the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta Canada. In 1969, she accepted a joint appointment to the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Pharmacy in Biochemistry and Pharmacology at Idaho State University. In 1979 she was promoted to full Professor. During her tenure, she took two Sabbatical leaves. One was as Research Associate to the Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Iowa and the other was as Visiting Scientist to the Dept. of Genetics, Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, Texas. She has numerous scientific publications and spent part of one summer at the University of Bremen in the north of Germany and part of another summer in England, Scotland and Wales. Both of these summer visits resulted from invitations to present my research to colleagues from other universities and to be involved in research and lectures. She received Outstanding Teacher Awards in 1976,1985,1987 and 1997. In 1994 she was chosen Teacher of the Year for the College of Pharmacy. She also served as Chairman of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences for the College of Pharmacy and President of the ISU Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi. In 1998, after almost 30 years of service at Idaho State University, she retired with Professor Emeritus status.

Judy is survived by her niece, Mary Elizabeth Fontenelle, two nephews, John M. Fontenelle, Mark F. Fontenelle, her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Guidroz Fontenelle, numerous cousins, as well as close friends.

Funeral Services will be from St. Thomas Catholic Church, Pointe Ala Hache, Louisiana. Interment in St. Thomas Catholic Cemetery. Details will be updated when they become available.

Memories and condolences may be shared by visiting the Guestbook below.