Judy Ann Zipkin

Judy Ann Zipkin (née Patterson) passed peacefully at her Rossville home on Sunday, January 11, 2026, following a brief illness.

Judy was, at various stages of life and in no particular order, a restauranteur, a party goods purveyor, a beloved aunt, a devoted mother, a doting grandmother, a committed canine caretaker, and a strident critic of various rules of evidence. She was 77.

Born May 10, 1948, to Wanda Stout Patterson, Judy was a native of Orlando, West Virginia. Orlando remains today much as Judy first found it: a bare spot in the woods where two roads meet, given the shape of civilization by a pair of churches and its lonesome post office.

Transplanted to Baltimore at an early age, Judy quickly outstripped these modest origins. For twenty-five years, Judy co-owned and -operated O-Go Sales, an Eastern Boulevard staple, before embarking on her second career as proprietress of JazNick’s, formerly of Back River Neck Road. In her spare time, she played key roles in the Essex Elks and both the Middle River and Red Eye Yacht Clubs, for whom she often catered club events. Her active involvement in the Essex community spanned seven decades.

Judy took particular pride in her time as a restaurateur. She regarded JazNick’s as a hard-won relic of a more genteel time. Judy was quick to defend this reputation, hastily correcting even herself when, during her final illness, she mistakenly characterized the restaurant’s front room as “a bar” (it was, in fact, a lounge). She was grateful for the friendships JazNick’s fostered, and, in later years, resented the many absences that followed age, illness, and the other infirmities of time.

The eldest of five siblings, Judy presided over a large and varied family. To eight biological nieces and nephews, a bevy of great-nieces and -nephews, and innumerable others of increasingly obscure pedigree, she was “Aunt Judy.” Her grandsons knew her as “Grandmama.” Her daughter, Debbie, just called her “Mom.”

Judy loved—and was loved—fiercely. She had a special fondness for the stray, the wayward, and the wandering. She was especially (perhaps excessively) proud of her grandsons, but was no doubt closest with her daughter. Over six decades, the two squabbled, sparred, ran a restaurant, reared a family, and, in the end, both bemoaned bitterly that they had not had more time to spend on it all.

Judy was predeceased by her mother, Wanda, a brother, Donald Patterson, and, most recently among her canine charges, Eddie and Ziva. She is survived by her daughter Deborah Temple (Brett), her grandsons Nicholas (Kristen) and Nathan Temple (Manika), her brother Robert Patterson (Diana), her sisters Diana Preston (Don) and Denise Montley (Bill), and longtime companions Catherine and Katie Delorenzo. She is mourned especially by Camp Grandmama’s current denizens, Teddy, Kaiya, and Canoe.

Her family will receive guests at the Bruzdzinski Funeral Home, located at 1407 Old Eastern Avenue, in Essex, Maryland, on Wednesday, January 14, 2026 from 2 to 4pm and again from 7 to 9pm. A funeral service will be held on Thursday, January 15, 2026, at 10am, with internment at Holly Hill Memorial Gardens immediately thereafter. Following the internment, guests are invited to join the family in celebrating Judy’s life at Buon Appetito, located at 405 Mace Avenue in Essex, Maryland.

The family will receive mourners at their home, located at 1407 Emily Court East in Abingdon, Maryland, on the evening of Saturday, January 17, 2026. Guests may arrive at their leisure, with a formal shiva service to begin at 7pm.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Judy's name to Gilchrist Hospice, who supported Judy and her family through her final illness, or to a charity of your choosing.