Judith Ann Lanphier (nee Heineman), died Friday December 19, 2025 in Columbia, Missouri. She was born on February 10, 1942 to Kenneth and Dora (Becker) Heineman at their family home near Verdon, Nebraska. She was “Judi with an ‘i” among the various folks named “Judy”, “Judi”, or “Judie” in her lifelong friend group. As a night owl, she earned the nickname “sleepytime gal”. She was a brilliant writer, winning the “Daughters of the American Revolution” writing contest in her early years.
Judi graduated from Falls City High School in 1960. She moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and worked as a telephone operator for Northwestern Bell, and moved to Denver, Colorado, continuing as an operator for the Long-Lines Department for AT&T. While living in Denver she met Robert “Bob” Lanphier, marrying in Lingle, Wyoming.
After that, many who knew Judi did not always know where she lived or what she was doing. In the course of their 49 years together, she and Bob moved 19 times. She helped Bob sustain several businesses, including two motels, a real-estate subdivision, two auto salvage yards, several farms, a trucking business, an equipment trading business, a tire recycling operation, and several investments in distressed properties. Their children (Dawn, Rob, and Dan) were in tow for various portions of their parents’ journeys, and family and friends appreciated the variety of vacation destinations when visiting. Shortly after Bob passed away in 2014, Judi entered memory care for the remainder of her life.
Judi had a lifelong passion for books, studying publishing arts at Lewis and Clark State College in Idaho. designing and typesetting Wallace Stegner: A Descriptive Bibliography, published in 1991. She also wrote poetry and lighthearted recollections about the people and places she loved. We will miss her intelligence and wise takes on many matters, and most of all, her sense of humor and her laugh.
Judi is survived by her children, Dawn Lanphier Simon, Robert Lanphier II and Daniel Lanphier, their spouses, two grandchildren, and her brother Allen Heineman. In addition to her husband and parents, Judi is preceded in death by brothers Marvin, Kenneth (“Kenny”), and Lowell (“Spike”) Heineman.
