Michael "Mike" Thomas Judge

Michael Thomas Judge, a longtime journalist and editor, died peacefully October 7, 2026, after a brief battle with lung cancer. He was 71.

Michael (Mike) was born on August 29, 1955, and raised in Batavia, New York. His father, Thomas, a veteran of World War II, was a longtime dental assistant at the Batavia VA Hospital, and his mother, Dorothy, a veteran of WWII, was a career nurse at the VA and St. Jerome hospitals.

Mike attended Notre Dame High School and Syracuse University, where he majored in communications and fell in love with the written word. After graduation, Mike, inspired by Woodward and Bernstein, took postgraduate journalism classes at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) in Glassboro, New Jersey.

While at The Courier Post in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, he met his future wife, Deborah (Deb) Stoudt. They both took full-time jobs at The Press of Atlantic City shortly thereafter, and their friendship became a romance.

They were married in 1983 and welcomed their first son, Benjamin (Ben), in 1984. They moved to Miami, where Deb grew up, in 1986. They took positions at The Miami Herald, where Mike worked as an editor. Mike climbed his way up to copy editor at the national news desk and authored several historic headlines for the paper. Their second son, Matthew (Matt), was born in 1989.

In 1998, Mike achieved a career goal and took a position at the prestigious Washington Post where he would walk the same halls as Bob Woodward himself. The family subsequently moved to the Washington, D.C., area. Mike left the Post in 2008 to edit for SNL Financial, where he would work until his retirement in 2016.

Mike loved Jeopardy, crossword puzzles, reading, Tom Petty, wading in the pool, and sports. When he could, he would combine those last two and play pool basketball. He passionately rooted for his Red Sox, Sabres, Orange, and adopted South Florida teams. But no team bested his passion for the Buffalo Bills.

Mike lost his mother in 1989 and his father in 2007. Deb, the love of his life, lost her long-fought battle with dementia in 2020 after he spent years as her full-time caregiver. Mike is survived by sisters Noreen Fisk (Paul) of Latham, NY and Eileen Buckley (Kevin) of Medford, MA; sons Benjamin Judge (Rose) and Matthew Judge (Laurie); and his granddaughter Josephine who would call him Papa Mike.

Please join us for a celebration of life, information listed below. Please wear funeral attire OR if you are a fan of one of Mike’s sports teams (Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Syracuse Orange, Florida Panthers, Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Miami Heat, Florida Gators), it is encouraged you wear that team’s apparel.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the American Lung Association or Alzheimer’s Association.