Judith Garland Wright

June 19, 1986 - January 28, 2025

Judith Garland Wright, 38, of Hot Springs succumbed to injuries from a car accident on Tuesday, January 28, 2025.

Garland was born June 19, 1986 to Terry And Leanne DeRouchey at Darnall Army Hospital, Ft. Hood, Texas. As a child of a career Army officer, Garland brightened the lives of family and friends in numerous states across the country (Kansas, Colorado, Hawaii, and Virginia) and numerous countries across the world (Jamaica, Venezuela and Argentina). She was the student of the year in Lincoln High School in Buenos Aires, Argentina and salutatorian of her graduating class in Caracas, Venezuela. From there she went to Tulane University where she graduated in 2008. Garland was accepted to the Teach for America program, where she taught English at Martin Luther High School in Philadelphia while getting her Master's degree in Education at the University of Pennsylvania.

Garland moved to Hot Springs after graduation in 2010 to support her family and father as he received and recovered from an organ transplant. It was while living in Hot Springs that Garland met the love of her life, Richard James Wright. Garland and RJ got married on October 19,  2013.

RJ and Garland were inseparable from the time they met. They made their home south of Hot Springs, behind the Angostura Dam. There she and RJ started their family, bringing Morgan home in 2015 and Weston in 2018. This family was the pride and pleasure of Garland's life. She loved being a mother and wife, and this was the role she was born for.  She also loved spending much time with both parents and brother as well as RJ's parents and brothers. Family really was the foundation and source of Garland's larger-than-life personality.

Garland shared her enthusiasm and love of life and learning at the Edgemont School District since 2014. In her tenure at Edgemont, she filled many roles. She taught high school English, k-12 Spanish, facilitated the senior experience, hosted prom, planned the veteran's day program, among many other duties. At the time of her death, she was pursuing her education specialist and doctoral degrees in education administration.

Garland is survived by her husband, Richard James Wright and their sons, Morgan and Weston; her father Colonel (ret.) Terry DeRouchey; her mother Leanne Garland DeRouchey and her brother, Joseph DeRouchey, all of Hot Springs; mother- and father-in-law, Sandy and Ed Wright; brother-in-law, Blake Wright; brother-in-law, Ryan Wright and niece, Harper. She has a large extended family who will miss her dearly. She touched the lives of many students and friends in the community and around the world, and she will be missed by all who knew her. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.

Memorial services will be held 11:00 a.m., Friday, April 4, 2025, at the Mueller Center in Hot Springs, SD.

Arrangements have been placed in the care of Chamberlain-McColley's Funeral Home in Hot Springs.