Judy Coughlin, the wife of two-time Super Bowl champion head coach Tom Coughlin, died on Tuesday, according to PEOPLE. She was 77 years old. Judy Coughlin’s death comes two years after her diagnosis with progressive supranuclear palsy, a brain disorder that deteriorates a person’s ability to speak think and control movement.
“My cherished wife and our beloved mother and grandmother, Judy Whitaker Coughlin, passed away this morning at the age of 77,” Tom Coughlin said in a statement. “Judy was a remarkable woman in every way. She lived a life filled with love and unselfishly gave her heart and soul to others. Judy made you feel like an old friend from the first hug to the last. She was a mother to all on and off the field. For everyone who knew and loved Judy, the enormity of her absence cannot be put into words, but the immense kindness she showed to others will always endure.”
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Judy and Tom began dating when they were in high school in New York. The couple married in 1967 when the two were in college. Judy has supported Tom throughout his coaching career, which began in 1969 when he was a graduate assistant at Syracuse. She saw her husband win two Super Bowls as the head coach of the New York Giants and one with the Giants as an assistant coach.
“We were saddened to hear of Judy’s passing this morning,” Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch said in a statement. “She was an incredibly bright light for all of us, and we were blessed that she shared her energy, vitality and love with our organization. As Tom has often noted, his role as head coach ended at the front porch. When he walked through the door, Judy was the boss. Our thoughts are with Tom and the entire Coughlin family.”
Tom Coughlin talked about his wife’s brain disorder in an essay for The New York Times last year. He wrote: “We’ve helplessly watched her go from a gracious woman with a gift for conversation, hugging all the people she met and making them feel they were the most important person in the room, to losing almost all ability to speak and move.” Cughlin added: “Judy’s decline has been nothing but gut-wrenching and has placed me in a club with the tens of millions of other Americans who serve as a primary caregiver for a loved one.”
