Singer Judy Kreston Lahm passed away this morning, December 23, 2009, at Beth Israel Hospice at St. Vincent’s, after a lengthy battle with cancer. She is survived by her husband, David Lahm, her daughter, Betsy Shankin-Morehouse (TJ Morehouse), her two grandchildren Rachel & Elijah & her brother, Dr. Thomas J. Cottle, of Boston.

Judy Kreston, the daughter of the late concert pianist Gitta Gradova & the late Dr. Maurice H. Cottle, was born & raised in Chicago & graduated from Sarah Lawrence College. She received a master's in psychology from Columbia University. She married David Lahm, son of Tony & Academy Award winning lyricist Dorothy Fields, in 1990.

At an early age, Kreston became a pupil of the great Marian Anderson. As a teenager, Judy sang at weddings & bar mitzvahs as well as in stage shows that accompanied the movies. She left home to join the Shrine Circus, forsaking a role in the national company of My Fair Lady to do so. She toured military bases with a USO troupe, playing Laurie in Oklahoma. She soon moved to New York, performing in the Catskills & eventually becoming a well-known singer on the New York Cabaret scene. She was the owner of Judy*s, both on West 44^th Street & later on Eighth Avenue in Chelsea. Judy Kreston & David Lahm performed together for almost 30 years, recording several albums together.