After graduating from Lourdes High School in 1960, Julie began a lifelong commitment to the service of others, starting with a job at the Misericordia Home in Chicago caring for some of society's most vulnerable members. After graduating from the Little Company of Mary School of Nursing, Julie entered the AmeriCorps VISTA program, where she helped establish a health clinic for the low-income and immigrant populations in Laredo, Texas. Upon moving back to Chicago, she took nursing jobs at a number of hospitals, urgent care centers, home health agencies, and primary care clinics throughout the city, collecting lifelong friends at each stop along the way.

Perhaps Julie's most fateful job was her brief stint as a community organizer with The Midway Organization, for it was while working there in 1975 that she volunteered to host a young, out-of-town organizer, Will, at her apartment in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood. The two fell in love and, after a whirlwind courtship, married later that year at St. Vitus Catholic Church in Pilsen. They went on to have three children together: Katrina, Josef, and Therese. 

Being a mother was one of the most important roles of Julie’s life, a source of endless pride and joy. She was our everything: a fiercely dedicated mother, our biggest supporter and constant source of strength, our role model and friend, a jokester, teacher, poet, and family scribe. Simply put, we cannot imagine our family without Julie as our mother and matriarch. 

Despite working a full-time job (one that required her to be on her feet for 9 hours a day), running the household, and making sure all of our needs were met, Julie somehow found time to nurture her own hobbies and passions. She had a green thumb and loved spending time tending to her backyard garden, which she filled with roses, Black-Eyed Susans, Bleeding Hearts, tomato plants, herbs, and a variety of perennials. She and Will were active in their church (finding a home at their beloved Old St. Pat's) and the community, and always made time for causes they cared about, including anti-war movements and a variety of social justice issues.  Julie was also a gifted and prolific poet, writing scores of poems on everything from love and marriage to old cars and junk drawers. And of course, no family camping trip was complete until Mom had captured the highlights (and, frequently, lowlights) in the family journal with her distinctive wit and humor. 

After retiring at the age of 70, Julie found a new role as doting grandmother, showering Edith, Oliver, Julia, Simone, and Tessa with the same love and attention that made all of us feel so special.  Julie was dealt a difficult hand in her later years, being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 (with a recurrence in 2015) and Parkinson's Disease in 2018, all while managing chronic pain resulting from spinal injuries and recurring sciatica, but she faced down each new diagnosis with her characteristic grace, courage, tenacity, gratitude, and humor. While all of those who loved her are devastated by her loss, we are comforted knowing that she is no longer in pain, and that she is resting in peace with her creator.

Julie is survived by her husband, Will, her children, Katrina, Josef, and Therese, her sister, Mary Kay, and her five grandchildren. A service will be held at Old St. Patrick's Catholic Church on Thursday, February 17, 2022, at 10:30am, with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to The Parkinson's Foundation, RESULTS, or St. Therese Catholic Church & School in Chinatown, causes and institutions that Julie cared deeply about.