At 17, she designed a Berkeley church's stunning stained glass windows. Now 88, she's finally been recognized

"Judy North poses in front of a stained glass window she designed when she was 17 at Northbrae Community Church. The window was inspired by the spiritual Love Comes a-Tumblin' Down. Credit: Nathan Dalton for Berkeleyside One day, not long ago, a group of women showed up at Northbrae Community Church in Berkeley asking to see the chapel's stained glass windows. Ruth Brayton, a longtime parishioner, was tasked with showing the women around and was eager to share everything she knew about the windows. She'd always heard that they were designed by John Wallis of the famed Wallis-Wiley glass studio in Pasadena."

"But one of the women in the group, Judy North, seemed to know more about the windows than Brayton did, and she soon made a startling declaration: It was she who had designed the two large windows that flank the chapel's east and west sides more than 70 years ago. At first Brayton didn't believe her. The windows were designed in 1954. Surely anyone who had been old enough to design them was now gone to the great beyond. And why was this the first time she was hearing about it? She thought that Berkeley has a lot of weirdos in it and that I might be one of them, said North, now 88. I thought she was hallucinating, said Brayton."

"After North's visit, Brayton became her biggest champion and began lobbying the church to honor the artist in some way and to finally give her the credit she was due. That public lauding took place on Sunday, Nov. 9, with the installation of a plaque and an entire worship service devoted to North and her contribution to the church. This is our occasion to be able"

Judy North designed the two large stained glass windows that flank the east and west sides of Northbrae Community Church in 1954 when she was 17. She took a job with the Wallis-Wiley glass studio in Pasadena and created watercolor sketches, supervised construction, and drew inspiration from the spiritual "Love Comes a-Tumblin' Down." Longtime parishioner Ruth Brayton initially doubted North's claim but became convinced after hearing detailed recollections about the inspiration, sketches, and construction. Brayton lobbied the church to credit North, and the church installed a plaque and held a worship service on Nov. 9 honoring North.

Read at www.berkeleyside.org