Judie Panneton was born and raised in Kingston, Pennsylvania and lived in Washington, D.C. and several states including, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts before moving to Sacramento and (about 30 years later,) Lincoln, California.  She began her career as a secretary during the week and as a newswriter on weekends, in Boston, Massachusetts at WEEI Radio.

Her broadcasting career took her to Concord and Keene, New Hampshire and to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she moved into television reporting and anchoring. It was in Pittsburgh, where she met her husband, John, during an interview while he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney.

They married about 45 years ago, moved to Capitol Hill where she reported and where he directed the Advocacy Institute.

They moved to Sacramento’s Land Park area, where they raised two daughters and where Judie was the editor of the Land Park News and a busy school and community volunteer. Judie continued her TV work, reporting for the Law Enforcement Television and the Fire Emergency Television Networks.  She has also written two books, The Breast Cancer Book of Strength and Courage and Proud Americans: Growing Up As Children of Immigrants, which she recently helped present at the National Teachers of English Conference in Denver, Colorado.

Judie also worked as a Public Information Officer for the State Water Board and was Director of Communications for the California Department of Rehabilitation.  She taught public speaking and media training courses to public employees across the state and for the Osher Learning Program at UC Davis. Judie retired in 2013 and moved to Sun City Lincoln Hills with John.

The call of volunteering led Judie to join the SLCH Communications and Community Relations Committee and she was the Chair of the community’s Accessibility Committee. She also was Co-President of the Shalom Group and continues to serve on its Board of Directors. Judie worked with the FBI’s Hate Crimes Task Force when a swastika was painted on a garage door in Sun City Lincoln Hills in 2020. Also, in the greater Lincoln community, Judie has volunteered at Phoenix High School and at the Lincoln Library where she tutored in the Literacy Program. She has been a speaker at various organizations as an author and as a child of Holocaust survivors.  Judie continues to be invited into classrooms in Placer County and Sacramento for Holocaust education and to offer lessons about writing and interviewing based on her book about children of immigrants. She also leads writing groups.

Judie has been writing articles for Neighborhood Watch for months and the more she learned about the organization, the more impressed she became.  So, when Executive Director Linda Minor urged her to attend a Board meeting and to consider joining the Board, Judie followed her suggestion and is now honored to be a member.

The grandmother of four grandsons and the proud mother-in-law of a deputy sheriff, Judie looks forward to helping the many Neighborhood Watch volunteers in their efforts to keep residents informed and as safe as possible.