Judith “Judy” Marie Hyndman — beloved wife, mother, sister, friend, teacher and neighbor — passed away at age 77 on April 15, 2026, in the Los Olivos home she had lived in for more than 45 years, filled with the sounds of her grandchildren, sisters, children, husband and friends who gathered in the Grand Avenue house in her final days to say goodbye.

Judy was born on Sept. 6, 1948 to Emily and Chet Lepak in Santa Barbara. Her parents had traveled West from Wisconsin after World War II to start a new life on the Mesa, above the Pacific Ocean.

Judy and her sisters, Barbara and Mary Kay, grew up on Borton Drive, just up the road from Hendry’s Beach and Judy had many memories of playing and swimming in the sea as a child.

She loved sharing this beach with her children and grandchildren through the years.
Judy was an enthusiastic student at Bishop Diego High School, where she was active in sports, drama, cheerleading, and was a homecoming princess when she graduated in 1966.

Judy left for San Diego and in the following years she obtained her physical education degree from California Western University in 1971, with the intent of becoming a P.E. teacher. Friends during that season remember Judy being so dedicated to fitness she would bike 20 miles a day along the Point Loma coastal path to attend classes.

Judy met the love of her life, Ken Hyndman, in a London youth hostel while she was backpacking in Europe on her own in 1972.

Ken, a New Zealand race car mechanic, asked Judy to marry him, foiling her plans to move to Tasmania to take a teaching position.

Ken left the car racing world to follow Judy back to California, and they were married in the chapel of St. Anthony’s Seminary, near the Old Mission Santa Barbara on July 6, 1974.

The couple settled into their home on Cass Street in Pacific Beach, San Diego. Judy worked in college admissions and Ken continued to work as a mechanic. They welcomed their daughter Gwyneth into the world in 1977.

Two years later, while visiting Judy’s sister in Lompoc, the family drove their green VW van through the Santa Ynez Valley and discovered the Los Olivos home where they would spend the next four decades.

In October 1980, Judy’s life was changed forever when she became paralyzed in her left leg, the result of an incurable auto-immune disease she would live with until her death.

As a young, active mother of a toddler, Judy was devastated at this diagnosis. Though in years to come, Judy would reflect on this season of darkness as the beginning of a deep faith in Jesus that would become a source of strength, joy and lasting fellowship.

Five years later, Judy and Ken welcomed their son, Sean “a gift from God,” and the Hyndman family was complete.

The four enjoyed many years of traveling, biking, hiking, camping at Upper Oso, Zaca Lake and Refugio Beach, swimming, and even skiing as Judy found adaptive resources that allowed her to continue exploring the world.

The family’s travels took them on road trips across the United States, Europe, many trips back to New Zealand to visit family and live abroad, and excursions to Poland with her sisters to visit their grandparents’ homeland.

In 2011, three years before she retired as a dedicated and much-loved teacher at Olive Grove Charter School in Los Olivos, Judy was even able to walk a portion of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. 

In the wider community, Judy is remembered for organizing the “Hyndman’s Roasted Walnuts “ stand at the Olde Fashioned Christmas in Los Olivos each December for more than 40 years; and was a fixture alongside Ken on evening tandem bike rides through Los Olivos for the last decade.

Even as her health deteriorated, Judy never lost her beauty, her love of literature, and her deep faith in God. She treasured and kept the memories of her life travels close to her in photos and journals, into her final days.

Judy is preceded in death by her parents Chet and Emily Lepak. She leaves behind her “forever and always” husband Ken; her two children Gwyneth and Sean, and their spouses John and Megan; grandchildren Jessie, Eliza, Darius and Jacob; sisters Barbara and Mary Kay; and many, many members of the wider family and dear friends from California to New Zealand who have held her in their prayers.

The Hyndman family would like to thank the community of the Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church, who — just like in the first days of Judy’s illness in 1980 — have surrounded Judy and her family in her final days at home with love, support, meals and flowers.

The family would also like to thank our friends and neighbors in Los Olivos and the Santa Ynez Valley, who have also been so supportive and loving in this time, as well as the guidance from the hospice care with VNA Health in Judy’s last weeks.

A service to remember Judy’s life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 23 at the Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church. Please RSVP to gwynethemilyhyndman@gmail.com for catering purposes.

For those who can’t attend, we will also be live streaming the service at https://youtube.com/live/l8yprYtwvoA?feature=share.