‘Burro Lady’ dead at age 65

[SHANEA]

From the Border Hotline.

ALPINE – Judy Ann Magers, commonly called the “Burro Lady,” passed away of natural causes Jan. 26, according to her guardian Bill Ivey. She was at her campsite near Sierra Blanca in Hudspeth County at the time of her death. At her request, the burial will be in Terlingua, time and date as yet to be determined.

A fund has been established to help with burial expenses. Memorial donations can be sent to: Judy Magers Memorial Fund, c/o St. Agnes Church, P.O. Box 295, Terlingua, Texas 79852. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[mescalero]

She was an remarkable woman, i met her on several ocasions while i was building my earthship near the ghost town. The burro lady would ruff out the cold and wets nights wrapped up in a tarp and blanket.  I can only imagine how many miles she walked throughout the Big Bend counry with her burro.  The spirit of the burro lady will always reside within my memories as I cruise the roads of Big Bend country.

[Casa Grande]

Sarah and I just saw her over the holidays in Alpine.  Never had the honor of meeting her.....sounds like her spirit will wonder the Big Bend for centuries to come.....as the legend of the Burro Lady......RIP

[SHANEA]

Saw her sleeping under a blue tarp on the road just outside of Presidio - her burro was at her side.

[Undertaker]

She was part of what makes the Big Bend a wonderful area.  

[westtex]

She was a Big Bend fixture for as long as I have been in Alpine, from Van Horn to Sanderson and everywhere in between.

[homerboy2u]

Forgive me for asking, but who was this lady :?: ..This is the first time i have heard of her and i have no clue as to who she was :roll: .

  Did she had any relatives :?: ...did she live in a special part of the region :?: ...what was her name :?: ...what is the story behind her :?:

Homero

[Undertaker]

Not sure of real name, but she was a fixture (character) around the Big Bend area for years, most often seen with burro wandering around the Alpine area BB area. She is now another chisos spirit. I am not sure because this has been years ago, think her first name was Julie, Joyce  orJudy or something like that, Burro Lady works for me. Again sad  

PS: Should have read Shanes post her name is in the death notice.

Judy. :oops:

[RichardM]

Forgive me for asking, but who was this lady :?: ..This is the first time i have heard of her and i have no clue as to who she was :roll: .

You just haven't been paying attention!  :D
See this topic (among others).  She was also mentioned in Fandango under her other nickname (although most people who have seen the movie don't catch the reference).
"We could see the donkey lady!"

[rgibson]

We would see Judy around the Big Bend in the 80's and early 90's, when we were tourists, on the road or in a cafe drinking coffee.  She wore a big sombero and never saw her face.

In '92, shortly after buying the Lajitas Trading Post, Judy came in and was looking for  Bill Ivey.  Explained he had sold the LTP.  She explained he was her guardian and she needed some $.  Bill was in MX on an extended trip, so I gave her the $ she needed.

Thru the years she would stop in and get $ and camp for a few days around the LTP.

She was very pleasant to talk to and I would always stop to check on her thru the years and see how she was doing.  Her handwriting was some of the nicest I have ever seen.  She would not talk to or even acknowledge folks who tried to talk to her, usually.

Lots of stories, but I think this is most accurate since it came from Bill Ivey.   She was a Moonie, a cult based in Denver in the 60's.  Her duty was to pass the hat to tourists passing thru the Denver airport.  She was very good at collecting $, but after months of increases the money collected stayed at the peak.  Could not collect any more than her peak.

The Moonies were not very good to her since her collections were not still increasing.  The part about not being good to her affected her severely.

One time a family member called and needed her to call asap.  I called all of the vendors and asked them to get word to their drivers to stop and ask her to call the LTP if they saw her.

The next day she called the LTP and I gave her the message.

Stories like Judy, the Devil Pig, the movies, the goat, the dances and many others fill our journals.  We could write a several volume book about our experiences at the LTP from '92 to '98.

[homerboy2u]

Thank you for sharing that RGibson.

 In a very singular way, this lady reminds me of Juan Alberto from Boquillas del Carmen...from the above description, they were both exentric and related to the desert area.

  Although , this lady was very well centerted, for Juan Alberto is a totally different story, for he is mentally affected, but still related to the area, and living in Boquillas to this date.

  May She rest in peace.

[SHANEA]

From the BorderHotline...

UPDATE: ‘Burro Lady’ has family
Linda Bailey Potter 01.FEB.07
ALPINE – Today, Feb. 1, Border Hotline News received a call from Judy Ann Magers’ daughter who is now in the process of notifying her brothers and sisters regarding the news of Judy’s death. She had not heard about the death of her mother and will soon be providing additional information about Judy’s life and background. See complete story in BHOT's print edition this Sunday, Feb. 4.

[rgibson]

Remember another story about Judy.

One year the low temp in Lajitas was 11 and a high of 20.  Some folks were worried about Judy.  Then the next thing a report came that she had died of the cold.  I told folks she was a trooper and she was probably okay.

That weeks Alpine Avalanche had an article about Judy dying.

Then folks started seeing Judy and her trusty burro.  The next weeks Avalanche had a retraction.

Judy would sometimes get mad at her burro.  She would be a fussin'  and a fumin'.  I have raised burros for the last 20 years.and still raise minature burros.  I would tell her to go find one she liked and we would trade even.

She did that several times.  Sometimes she would be on a small motorcycle like a Vespa or Moped.   Do not think she would ck oil very often and it did not last long.

Then she showed up in an old big Cadilac or Lincoln that had been modified for the burro to ride.

She went by Judy Freeman in those years.

[wolfsong]

Re: previous posts:

homerboy2u2 wrote:
Forgive me for asking, but who was this lady  ..This is the first time i have heard of her and i have no clue as to who she was  .

You just haven't been paying attention!  
See this topic (among others). She was also mentioned in Fandango under her other nickname (although most people who have seen the movie don't catch the reference).
"We could see the donkey lady!"

[/size]

.......
I've added a little more info on Judy,  on the website showing the painting,  but will be adding some photos of her there on the site (soon),  with more information,  (later).

http://terlinguagallery.com/id26.html

Bon

[Burro Bill]

Judy was a very special person, my wife and I were blessed to have known her. A real "Rounder" Judy rode her Saddle Donkeys thousands of miles in the last 20 years. I first met her at La Mesa,NM when she rode from Terlingua, TX to Columbus, NM... long before she started accepting rides from folks pulling horse trailers. We had a really bad snow storm that winter and a number of us from Columbus went out to her camp to see if she was Ok, nobody could find her or her Burros. We looked high and low for her and finally gave up... figuring we would find her body after the spring thaw. About two weeks later after the weather had cleared she came riding down main street smoking a Mexican made Faro cigarette, not a care in the world!!

She had rode across the Mexican border about 75 miles south, before the storm hit and some folks had bought her a motel room. She had survived warm and cozy.

Everyone in Columbus was so happy to see her alive and well... there was a few fiestas in Judy's honor... she couldn't figure out what all of the fuss was about.

 Not many folks know  Judy has been imortalized in Bronze!! One day while surfing the net I came across a photo of a bronze sculpter it was titled "Burro Annie" or "Donkey Annie" I wish that I could find a copy of it for sale. If anyone knows where a copy of this bronze is please let me know. I was blown away when I saw it...jJust as soon as I looked at it I knew it was Judy and her burro... as it looked just like her... in the summers she had a habit of wearing woven planters as hats, and she aways had a pair of high top boots on with her pant legs tucked inside "cow-puncher" style. The bronze was the spittin' image of her.

One of the things that always amazed me was... after all of the years Judy spent on the road she never learned (or cared) how to correctly pack her stuff on a pack animal. She just tossed things up there and how ever they landed, that is the way she tied them down. I came across her one time a little before dark and she was riding down the shoulder of the road... with all of those blankets and stuff swaying back and forth on her pack burro, in the headlights it looked pretty spooky, I couldn't tell for sure what it was that I was seeing...looked like something out of Star-Wars. All of the sudden my wife said, "Thats Judy...pull over". We talked a little bit then loaded her and those burros up and hauled her to Marfa, TX

Judy's death had been prematurley reported a number of times over the years...usually right after a real bad ice or snow storm. I even wrote an article about her freezing in the Sacramento Mts. of New Mexico one winter...didn't just make it up...folks had called and said it was true!! I was pretty bummed out at her not being around anymore. Then one day in 1994 I was in Alpine, TX and I heard a horse trailer pull off the road, the tail gate swung open, and out jumped Judy and 2 burros!!

Sadly she is gone now we always looked forward to seeing her. She was one of a kind and a real friend, we will miss her... But as the Mexicans would say "...she lived the life".  Howdy and Yahooskin Fowler Mission Ranch Tularosa, NM