Courtyards at Southpoint
Judy + Dick
If you're familiar with the PORCH hunger-relief program, you’re likely familiar with Judy and Dick Fox, our Courtyards at Southpoint PORCH volunteers and neighbors since the summer of 2021.
The couple has lived in Chapel Hill or Durham much of the time since they married in 1974. That marriage was the result of a meeting in the men’s restroom in the anthropology/sociology building at Duke University.
“Dick, as acting chair of anthropology, had recently ‘liberated’ and declared (the room) the ‘Peoples’ Toilet,’” Judy explained. “The men/women flip sign on the door wasn’t foolproof, and it made for some interesting confrontations. The rest, as they say, is history.”
Judy and Dick have an adult daughter, Sarah, living in Las Vegas, and are the proud owners of their dog, Simon.
Dick and Judy with Simon
Judy, the youngest of three children, spent her early years in upstate New York, then moved to Winston-Salem, N.C., as a teenager. “I tried very earnestly not to acquire a southern accent and to a large extent, I succeeded,” she noted.
Her father introduced her to classic mystery writers, such as Agatha Christie, Nero Wolfe and Travis McGee, at an early age, sparking a life-long love of mysteries. Growing up, she played the French horn and enjoyed signing in choirs. She also made most of her own clothes as a teenager.
Dick’s first nine years were spent in Manhattan, N.Y., living on the Lower East Side with his mother, impoverished after his father left when he was born. Dick described his mother as “smart, leftist, analytical, feisty, loving and utterly permissive,” as were her two sisters, who helped raise him.
“I was something of a street urchin in those days, running the streets with my Irish and Italian friends, getting beat up and robbed by older and bigger kids and learning survival,” Dick said.
His mother remarried, and Dick soon had a sister, to whom he and Judy remain close. The family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in the early 1950s, which “was a real culture shock for me,” he noted. “I met the upper middle class for the first time and also the Midwest, and I adapted, but never really fit in well.” Dick felt “Eisenhower’s America was smug and arrogant, acting superior or dismissive or ignorant of other ways to live.”
Judy started college at the UNC School of Nursing in Chapel Hill but switched majors several times before settling on sociology. After graduating, she worked for the Census Bureau for a year before entering graduate school at Duke University, where she earned a Ph.D. in sociology.
She went on to teach research methods at the Duke School of Nursing. “As a ‘trailing spouse,’ I taught sociology when I could, but as time went by, I found myself doing more volunteer docenting,” she said. After returning to North Carolina when Dick retired in 2005, Judy volunteered in public school English as a Second Language programs.
By his junior year in high school, Dick was determined to be an anthropologist. At age 24, and after graduate studies at the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley, he ended up in Northern India to conduct fieldwork. He recalled “speaking a Hindi that was so bookish, it made the locals smile.”
Young anthropologists “wanted to expand anthropology beyond so-called primitive societies into communities in complex societies like India, Europe and even the U.S.,” Dick said. “My ‘tribe’ was, therefore, a community of 7,000 people living in one of India’s poorest areas, where I lived a vegetarian and teetotal existence.” He lived without a toilet, running water, kitchen or windows for about a year until a rabid dog’s bite ended that endeavor for him.
The experience in India “brought me to an epiphany that has ever after directed my behavior and understanding,” Dick continued. “Since then, I’ve followed a typical academic career of teaching, research and publication,” culminating as president of the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research in New York City.
At age 50, living in Santa Fe, N.M., and on a Guggenheim fellowship, Dick learned how to read music and play instruments. He started with the cello but later switched to the viola de gamba and baroque cello, instruments better suited to the Renaissance and baroque music he preferred.
In addition to music, Dick participates in primitive archery, using bows and arrows, and is the “devoted caretaker” of Simon, walking, feeding, grooming and, of course, petting him.
Judy said she hopes “to live life with gusto and purpose as long as I am able.” She still is a voracious fiction reader and loves attending early-music concerts, as well as playing the recorder with Dick and friends. She spends time on many craft hobbies, including making polymer clay and beaded jewelry, making soap, working with felt and counted cross stitch. She works out at the UNC Wellness Center when she can. “And I consistently lose my $3 every week when I try to play mahjong,” she added.
Dick’s work has allowed them to travel to many places. Dick feels the most interesting was Cape Town, South Africa, just after Apartheid, when Nelson Mandela was elected president. “There was such a wonderful national spirit then, an overwhelming sense of possibilities,” he recalled.
“We’ve been to so many amazing places,” Judy noted. “I would say that any time we return to New Mexico and the high desert, my heart expands with joy. I’ve also enjoyed our many month or longer stays in Edinburgh, Strasburg and elsewhere, which allowed us the chance to really get to know a place.”
Asked to describe their involvement in PORCH, Dick said he and Judy began as volunteers shortly after the Chapel Hill program was started in 2010 to confront food insecurity through private philanthropy, taking part in the monthly food sort. Judy was a line supervisor who kept the sort lines moving and Dick was the “garbage guy,” breaking down boxes and taking out the recyclables. After they moved here, Dick contacted PORCH Durham and became the neighborhood coordinator for monthly food donations.
Judy has been “delighted with the friendliness of our community and its willingness to reach out to help one another,” she said. “My hat is off to the Social Committee for its many successful efforts to bring us together.” She looks forward to getting to know her Phase 2 neighbors and for them to become an integral part of the neighborhood.
“I think,” Dick added, “our community is the closest I will ever come to living in a matrilineal society. Women do just about everything here, and they do it well. We men are paroled to watching sports, playing poker and lifting heavy objects. I’m exaggerating, of course, but without our community’s women manning the trenches (pun intended), we’d be a lot lesser place to live.”
He urged his neighbors to give him a wave if they see him walking Simon almost every day around 6:45 a.m.
Bill + Janet
Bill and Janet Maarschalk, who jokingly refer to 2024 as “the year the Grinch stole our Christmas,” were, after two postponed “final” walk throughs, finally able to move into their new Courtyards at Southpoint home Dec. 20, 2024. They had been told their home would be ready by the third quarter of 2023.
The Maarschalks had been considering downsizing and moving to North Carolina from their Simi Valley, Calif., home for several years. Then their daughter-in-law, Kait, told them about a new community being developed just 10 minutes from where she and their son, John-Philip (J.P.), lived. With a young grandson and another grandbaby on the way, they seriously looked at Courtyards at Southpoint, as well as a couple other places, and signed a contract in December 2022.
Bill and Janet
The Portico model seemed to be exactly what they were looking for, and the “55 and Up” community had great appeal. “So far, the friendly neighbors and community outreach have proved we made the right decision,” they agreed. “The nearby shopping and dining choices are also a huge plus. We’re still working on getting used to the weather.”
Bill was born in Exeter, N.H., but grew up in Kingston, Mass. Janet was born and raised in and around Los Angeles, Calif. The two met in 1981 while Bill was an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and Janet was a registered nurse. A fellow nurse gave them the best advice they ever received. “You should meet,” the nurse told them. “So glad we both agreed,” they said.
Janet was attracted to Bill’s passion for adventure and travel, while Bill was drawn to Janet’s sense of humor, down-to-earth style and compassion for others. They married in 1982 and began married life taking an untraditional honeymoon — camping in the Grand Canyon. That set the tone for annual family camping trips throughout California.
The couple has two adult children, Emily and J.P. Emily, a nurse practitioner, and her husband, Anthony, a family practice doctor in Ventura, Calif., have three children. J.P. earned his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree through the G.I. Bill after spending several years in the Army as a Special Forces medic. He works at Duke Hospital in Raleigh. He and Kait, a real estate agent, have two children. Kait helped Bill and Janet buy their new home here.
After 52 years in California, Bill, who ultimately became an LAPD lieutenant with a master’s degree in public administration, said he is happy to be back on the East Coast.
He and Janet have taken many wonderful vacations together. Several years ago, they took their first steamboat trip up the Mississippi River and fell in love with the up-close and personal views of small towns and unique local histories. This included Hannibal, Mo., on a Mark Twain-themed trip. Their most recent small cruise ship adventure included all five of the Great Lakes. Although they got Covid, they said that trip was “amazing and beautiful.”
Their most memorable family vacation was a cruise to Alaska’s Inside Passage, followed by a road trip to Denali National Park for several days, which included river rafting on the Nenana at 9 p.m. at night while it was still light out. They also saw Mount McKinley before its name was changed to Mount Denali (which has been changed back to Mount McKinley).
Over the years, the Maarschalks also have covered most of Canada, recently taking the famous domed window train in the Canadian Rockies, which they described as “gorgeous!” Their favorite trip to our northern neighbors was a visit to the Canadian Maritimes.
Bill is an avid bicyclist. Since his retirement, he has ridden with America by Bicycle from the west coast of Oregon to the east coast of New Hampshire and from New Orleans to the border of Minnesota and Canada, along with several other shorter, but still long, challenging trips. He has the distinction of having been to all 50 states. Janet said she is doing her best to catch up with him, with five states left to visit. But, she added, “not on a bike!”
During one of Bill’s biking trips along the North Carolina coast, Janet took an extended vacation to Ireland with some time in London to visit friends. She has visited England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales on various trips to the United Kingdom.
Although Bill has considerably cut back on cycling, he still loves to ride and is looking for fellow enthusiasts in the neighborhood. Janet said she looks forward to participating in the book club and taking brisk walks on the American Tobacco Trail.
Their message to Courtyards at Southpoint residents: “Hello, neighbors. We look forward to meeting you.”
Sherry
If you haven’t been inside Sherry Dayal’s home, you’re missing an “experience.” Since moving here in December 2021, she has transformed her home into what some would call an art museum. From the front yard, throughout the house, to her backyard patio, you’ll find large and small works of art, most of them designed and built by Sherry, who said: “I enjoy living every moment in my showcase home.”
Born and raised in India, Sherry grew up interested in various forms of art. As a child, she won a National Level Scholarship in painting, an achievement that was documented in the local newspaper. She later became interested in decorating cakes and, while in college, worked part time as a cake decorator. She also enjoyed embroidery, knitting, sewing, crochet, shuttle tatting and cooking.
Sherry
As Sherry got older, she developed a flair for woodworking and epoxy. “I have used these skills in creating my artworks,” she said. “Life is a celebration for me. I love what I do, and if I put my mind and heart into something, I don’t stop until I achieve my goal.”
Aside from her interest in art, much of Sherry’s childhood was spent swimming and taking part in other sports, including badminton. She is the recipient of multiple sports awards.
Sherry has one brother and two sisters, who she referred to as not only her siblings, but her friends, with whom she has a strong bond. She described her parents as “very simple, hardworking and ethical individuals.” Her father was head of the physics department at an engineering college, and her mother was a homemaker.
She and her husband, Rajender, a computer engineer, have been married 35 years. They have two sons, Sahil and Pavan. Sahil, a doctor, and his wife, Tyler, also a doctor, recently presented Sherry with a “2024 Christmas gift,” a new grandson. Pavan graduated from North Carolina State University with majors in physics, math and computer science and a 4.0 grade point average in all three. He lives in Colorado working full time for the Air Force, while pursuing his master’s degree.
Sherry grew up afraid of dogs, but her motherly instincts helped her overcome that fear when the family acquired its first pet, Kayla, the corgi who accompanies her on walks.
Sherry’s father encouraged her to become an engineer, but she felt she was born to be an artist. “Eventually, I became both,” Sherry said. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology in Patiala, India, and later pursued her master’s degree in computer science at Duke University.
She worked as a computer consultant until she became a mother and decided to stay home to raise her children. As her children grew up and started school, she found herself with free time, which she used to buy homes and rent them. “The best part of this business is that I was able to control my free time,” she added. Currently she is a real estate business owner, with multiple rental properties she manages.
Sherry and her family have traveled throughout the entire United States and have visited India, Canada and Europe. She liked Hawaii and Las Vegas the most, especially the shows in Las Vegas. One of her bucket list items is to start touring the world.
Other items on her bucket list include spending as much time as possible with her new grandson and becoming a developer who creates unique-looking architectural homes.
The best advice she ever received came from her father, who taught her to “forgive and forget.” Although she’s had an interesting and diverse life, Sherry feels her best job ever was taking care of her parents in their old age. “My parents made lots of sacrifices while raising me,” she noted. “They were good role models in my life.”
Reiterating her life is a “celebration,” Sherry explained that doesn’t mean her life is all good. “What it really means is that I have learned how to handle the different situations calmly and peacefully.”
She attends church every Sunday to help her stay focused on the right path, and added she is also inspired by color, especially transparent color. “I stay connected with the transparent as well as all other colors during my daily life.”
Sherry moved to Courtyards at Southpoint from Raleigh, where she had lived 26 years. She was attracted to the single-story home with a walk-in shower, as well as the lawn services, swimming pool and proximity to restaurants and the mall.
Asked what else she’d like her neighbors to know about her, she responded: “I can be reached even in the middle of the night if anyone needs any kind of help from me. When you cannot find anyone to help you, you can always depend upon me.”