Judy was born in New Bedford, MA and raised there by immigrant parents. Her first encounter with higher education was at a Community College from which she graduated, with high honors, with an Associate Degree in Business Administration. She then headed to Plattsburgh, NY where her newlywed husband and high school sweetheart was serving in the United States Air Force. There she attended the State University of NY and obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.
Her husband’s military service lead them to Spain where they lived for four years. Judy says “yes” to life, and life wants her communing with people and while traveling the world observing and absorbing the various customs and cultures, it wasn’t long before her “Yes” mentality lead to her guiding and engaging tourists on historical tours of these foreign countries. That was her side job, but by day she served the U.S. Air Force in Torrejon, Spain in a civilian capacity as a Financial Manager for Military Lodging Facilities. Her hard work and dedication was recognized by military senior leadership and she was awarded Civilian Manager of the Year for all of Europe and runner up worldwide.
Every role she has played since has been with total dedication and magnetic enthusiasm. For the past 20+ years she has worked in the field of Human Resources Director. Currently, Judy’s tactical strategy is implemented as the Director of HR at the nonprofit organization, “Homes For Our Troops”, whose mission is to build and donate specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post 9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives.
She was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to the Cape Cod Community College Board of Trustees in 2014 which was and continues to be an honor for her given that she has first hand knowledge of the positive impact of a Community College education and the opportunities it leads to.
Judy is most proud of being the first in her family to graduate from college and has passed the importance of education along to her children Josh, a graduate of Cape Cod Community College, and Ciara, a graduate of UMass Dartmouth. She is also proud of her service as a military spouse alongside her now retired husband, Chief Master Sergan “Gus” Barrigas, a 37 year Air Force Veteran.
When she is not serving the community, Judy can be found with her family and dogs, by the water, cooking great Portuguese food; or in her many gardens.