Theirs was a 42-year-long, very Buckeye love story

Judy Delaplane’s green eyes, long legs and 1974 miniskirt first captured Roy Smoot’s attention in the Sigma Nu fraternity house, and they quickly became inseparable. They studied together, enjoyed the jukebox and draft beer at CharBar, disco danced at The Castle on High Street, and attended football and basketball games. They saw Elton John at St. John Arena with $6 tickets, and Judy wouldn’t miss watching Roy sing bass with the Men’s Glee Club. 

Those idyllic Ohio State days started an epic love story that wound through their hearts and souls for more than 42 years. Through completing their studies, building successful, continuously evolving careers, making homes in Georgia, Florida and back to Ohio, raising their son, Jason, and finally fulfilling their dream—renovating a cozy cottage in the Hocking Hills of Ohio—Roy and Judy never lost touch with their Buckeye roots. 

They maintained full wardrobes of Buckeye swag. They rarely missed a football game on TV and attended in person as often as schedules allowed. One time in 1984, they were in C-Deck at the ’Shoe when Keith Byars led a thrilling comeback win over Illinois and set what was then a single-game rushing record. The couple stood up and screamed, “Hey Keith, come on down!”—and he did, running 67 yards to the goal line … with one shoe left halfway back. 

Judy and Roy returned to the Columbus campus again and again as devoted fans, staunch supporters of the university’s academic programs and then, with both of them receiving care as cancer patients at The James. Judy, first.

While her husband, an international business major, had spent his years as a wealth management advisor, nonprofit leader and banker, including as a leader at Fifth Third and PNC, Judy had followed a more winding path. After studying theatre and business at Ohio State, she completed her degree, in fashion design, at Massey Fashion Institute in Atlanta. She worked in retail fashion, then as a paralegal, trained spiritual leader and expressive arts facilitator. Caring for her beloved Aunt Ginny through her life’s end devastated Judy, but also inspired her. 

She founded a nonprofit organization to assist people with chronic, debilitating or terminal disease. She guided clients in developing skills for coping and enjoying a fulfilling life, even in the face of serious challenges. In 15 years as a volunteer hospice worker in Columbus, Judy expanded her own understanding of what it means to face and navigate the end-of-life journey and support others throughout this universal experience.

In late 2015, when she was just 61, Judy and Roy learned she had a large mass in her right temporal lobe. It was identified just before Thanksgiving as glioblastoma multiforme, the same brain cancer that took her aunt’s life—as well as John McCain and Beau Biden. 

Judy underwent immediate brain surgery at The James the day before Thanksgiving, followed by 10 months of aggressive, pull-out-all-the-stops, leave-no-stone-unturned cancer treatment and immunotherapy. She suffered a stroke, pushed through rehabilitation and valiantly fought an unwinnable battle. 

Even through their worst days, Judy held onto her faith, education, training and personal commitment to helping others. She and Roy worked together, a consummate team as they faced her life’s end with dignity, courage, acceptance made possible by the work both had done to unknowingly prepare, and the love they’d shared since their college days. 

As she weakened, Judy continued her decades-long practices of journaling and painting to process her thoughts and feelings. Her spiritual discipline of making mandalas guided her to reach out to others, caring for her family, friends and caregivers as they “walked the talk” with her. This devastating experience, as she saw it, was an opportunity to apply the guidance she had offered many others to her own life—and find the peace, resilience and trust she had promised others, again and again, before she experienced it. She wrote her own obituary, saying of her husband: “For over 39 years, and the two years we dated, he has adored, cherished and loved me beyond what I ever thought possible.”

On Oct. 10, 2016, immediately following Judy’s death, as Roy left the Pickering House hospice for the last time, he heard an owl hoot three times. Many of the Lakota and Inuit believe this is a call to escort a soul home to its creator. 

For Roy, his own unwanted journey had begun. For two grueling years, he dealt with his abysmal grief by leaning into practices he had watched Judy teach others. He dove into journaling and poetry. He staunchly resisted anyone who dared suggest dating again.

Yet, new love found Roy quite unexpectedly. June Richdale, a registered dietitian and University of Cincinnati alumna, was a friend of Roy and Judy’s. They’d shared a love for vacationing in Maine and called themselves Maine-iac friends. As Roy and June attended St. Alban’s Episcopal Church together in Bexley, via service and philanthropy projects, a deep friendship and healing blossomed. June became a confidant, encourager and, as Roy says, “the gift of a second incredible woman to love and be loved by in return.” 

Just a few months after realizing new life and love were possible, Roy received a shocking lung cancer diagnosis (he had never smoked) that sent him back to The James, this time as the patient. With June by his side, they navigated his treatments with the help of an outstanding care team led by Dr. David Carbone. The process put Roy into full remission and allowed him to continue his happily-ever-after plans with June. They were married in Scotland and started their next chapter. 

“I’ve been blessed throughout my life, in good and bad times,” says Roy, who with June has made an estate gift to The James. “Ohio State has given us so much and cared for us so well that we wanted to help the researchers and thoracic medical providers save more lives. We want to help other patients be able to say, ‘The James saved my life’ or ‘The James saved my loved one’s life.’”

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Roy now lives in Maine with his wife, June. Melinda Folse is a freelance writer based in Texas. They and Judy shared their journey, in the hope of helping others, in their book It All Belongs: Love, Loss and Learning to Live Again.