When I moved in with Julie a year ago it was everything I needed. I was leaving a depressing apartment and healing from different things in my life.  Julie welcomed me in quickly and lovingly. It was such a joy to live with her and to get to know her.  She radiated so much joy. I would come home tired from my job that demanded so little of me and Julie would come home bounding in the door after a 12 hour shift ready to tackle some homework for her program, watch the Kardashians, or go grab a drink nearby. 

I was so happy when she told that she finally finished everything and was going to get to transition to being a nurse practitioner. I could see all of the excitement that she had and she would have been wonderful. I just know all of the families that she has helped have benefited so much just from her presence. I miss her dearly and have thought about her everyday. 

Thank you to Julie's family for sharing such a wonderful human that spread so much love, joy, and kindness. 

To Julie's family.

I had the privilege to work with Julie on the Resource Team. I was her manager for the last three years. As I look back at that number, it seems like such a short amount of time and I think that was part of Julie’s charm. She let people in and made you feel like a friend right away.

I didn’t get to know Julie in a church or singing together. But man, do I love to hear about this side of her. I would have loved to pray with her and sing a worship song with her.

Alas, I got to know her through her work which I see now was one of the ways she served God. I know you all know this, but Julie was an incredible nurse, preceptor, educator and friend to everyone on the team. No matter how hard a day she was having (and in the middle of a pandemic there were MANY), she walked around with a smile on her face (or in her eyes when we were masked) that radiated and had the power to lift those up around her. She was smart and caring. Her compassion for her patients and their families was deep. She loved teaching and took the opportunity to do so whenever she could. Her positivity and down to earth realness made her easy to talk to. She was someone you could laugh with or cry with. People, myself included, were drawn to her.

During our one on ones or rounds, Julie would always make the most of our time together and she’d ALWAYS introduce me to her patient. We’d play with her patient together when we could or if it wasn’t that kind of day, she always let me know if she needed help with something. She’d readily share her goals and what she was doing to get there. I loved cheering her on - whether it was a tough class, a grueling clinical schedule, a new nursing certification. She always let me know how she was doing. She texted me the day she finished school and the week she passed her boards! I was thrilled for her. She was going to be a great NP!

I feel so devestated and know that it just a drop of the anguish you all feel. I am so sorry for this loss. I am truly honored to have known your sister, your daughter. She was a big bright light. I plan to keep her memory with me. May she be dancing and singing in Heaven. 

To Julie’s Family,

I want to convey my deepest condolences for your inexpressible loss. Julie was not only a wonderful daughter, sister, and aunt, but she was also an extraordinary friend.

In first meeting her, I was utterly charmed. She was more than simply a quick wit. She made you feel alive. With simple gestures and kind words, she lived the ministry she was called to do.

She was full of warmth, humor, and witticisms. I regularly use her turns of phrase, which she aptly named “Julie-isms”. She would describe being perfectly full after a meal as “comterful”. Or the phrase, “who’s to say”, deftly woven into a conversation. The last conversation I had with her was our jokingly discussing working on her one woman Off-Broadway show, which we both agreed, would be a smash hit.

She once told me, her signature gifts for a party were prosecco and flowers. When I mentioned mine was homemade focaccia she gently reminded me, “not everyone can eat gluten”.

I had the good fortune to have a very deep conversation with Julie about the importance of a faith community and how in-person worship in fellowship with other believers is so crucial to our own individual faith. Julie was instrumental in my returning to the church and in becoming a member of Covenant Presbyterian. I was always hopeful I would see her in her favorite pew among her small group friends.

She was so proud of having become a full NP and she talked so excitedly of her new career. One of her happiest days, she said, was when she found out she passed the certification test.

I take solace in knowing, she was walking the path she felt called to do, which she felt was God’s purpose for her. She led a life that inspires one to pursue your own purpose with the same devotion as she did. She lived her ministry every day.

In the darkness that pervades us, she was a light.

I am a better person for having known her. I was fortunate, in God’s mercy, to have seen her one last time weeks prior, and to have told her so much, when she had ears to hear it.

May she rest in peace with God for eternity.

I did not know Julie personally and only learned of her after this unimaginable tragedy through news channels in Kenya, from where I'm originally from. One need not have known her to be touched so deeply by her story; to be grieved by this tragedy. Oh that smile!! And the fact that she opted to answer the call to go and be the hands and feet of Jesus among the Maasai in Kenya reveals her heart, the kind of person she was, and her complete submission into the service of Christ. Julie was a servant of God who ministered to strangers like me, even after she left this life to enter into eternal glory with our Savior. To Julie's parents, siblings, extended family and friends, may God provide you with the comfort & strength you need as you navigate this exceptionally difficult season in your lives. 

Emma, Atlanta Ga

To Steve, Kris, Annie, Elisabeth, Jake, Karen, Caleb & her 3 precious nephews/niece:

I met Julie in February 2019 when she came to my church, HTC Pilsen. I was 25 and she was 28 or 29. I was separated from my husband, headed toward a divorce I didn't want and utterly heartbroken. I was doing my "due diligence" in saying "hi" to new people, especially young women because we were a small church and I knew it takes guts to walk into a new church alone, wondering if there's space for you. Anyway, Julie made welcoming her easy. I was going shopping after church and asked her if she wanted to go with me. Now knowing Julie, of course she did.

We became fast friends. She came down to Mexico City two times to visit me during my work trips. She got me out of my awful hobbit hole of sadness and we spent 2019 skating/biking on the lake front, going dancing, eating gelato and visiting pet shops and dreaming about her adopting a corgi. Julie brought so much light into the saddest season of my life. She'd often say to me, "LIZ, that's what credit cards are for!" before forcing me to go have fun. I hosted her 30th birthday party where she made a spotify playlist with a song from every year of her life. 2020 crashed into our lives and we facetimed multiple times a week when she wasn't working. When I returned to Chicago from trips she'd fill my fridge with her favorite Trader Joe's snacks. I helped her move what felt like EVERY YEAR! One day I was really struggling and she brought over a longboard she had bought once to impress a boy. After realizing she a) hated longboarding and b) no boy is really ever worth wearing knee pads for, she gave it to me. I still use it to this day.

Julie and I started praying every week. We'd walk and talk and pray for each other. We prayed about her dreams, which you, her family, probably already know about but if you ever want to remember together, I'm available to share. We often prayed about how she felt drawn to international missions but didn't want to do that alone. We'd talk about her dating life. She had the most interesting stories, which she'd share as we ate Cherry Garcia flavored Ben and Jerry's ice cream, her favorite. One of my favorite quotes of hers during this season was, "Liz, less is not more, MORE IS MORE" and she probably said that within the context of my miserliness at the time but I actually now think that's quite a good reflection of the way she lived her life.

I remember when Karen got a concussion in the UAE and Julie was very concerned. We prayed and prayed until she texted me "I'm flying to Dubai!" and off she went, to bring brightness into her sister's life. I remember counting down the days till Noa was born. She was very excited and we prayed a lot for Elisabeth during this time. We prayed for Annie during her moves between Nashville and Michigan. I remember when she went home to Michigan for a weekend and came back and told me what her mother, Kris, had said; "When I was young, I thought 'walking by faith' would get easier but as I've grown older, I've realized you have to continue to learn how to do it. It's a constant exercise." I've remembered that throughout the years because it's also been my experience. Julie really helped me to live out the concept that trusting Christ in all things looks like gardening life instead of digging trenches.

In 2021 I moved to Mexico City full time and we stayed in touch, but not as closely as when we lived near each other. She'd still text me about the new boy she was excited about. I'd send her pictures of my scabs from accidents I'd have using the longboard she gave me. My last communication with Julie was on Saturday, October 21, 2023, when she said the following:

"On my way to Kenya!! To be a real deal NP! (Just for a few weeks)"

When I found out Julie had died, I imagined what she'd say. I think she'd be disappointed at first and say something like "What? I died? Why did I have to be the one to die?!?" Then, after 5 minutes, she'd maybe adjust a bit. She'd be most concerned about the pain her passing would cause her family. I think she'd be really sad about that. I think she'd also be slightly proud of the way she was living her life when she died, trusting God as she helped others. I'm so thankful I had the honor of tripping through sanctification with Julie during her life here.

This past Sunday, October 29, 2023 I sat in church as we sang "Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty, Early in the morning, Our song shall rise to Thee" and I wondered if Julie was also singing that on her first Sunday in Heaven.

I know enough about loss to know that this one will never not hurt, this side of Heaven. Time will not fully heal this wound. I'm really sorry about that.  I leave you with this one last quote of Julie's I wrote down: “Joy is the demonstration of hope.”

Love,

Elizabeth (Liz) Brown

My family met Julie through Karen when the two and the Zerkle’s came over to our home during Labor Day 2020. Since then, I’ve come to admire Julie. 

Julie’s life had meaning and purpose because Christ died and resurrected. She went to Kenya to be a witness to this good news and she proclaimed His love through her vocation as a nurse and a friend. God had gifted her many gifts; she was a virtuous woman. She valued beauty as evidenced in her home and fashion.  She was thoughtful and generous. When our 3-week old daughter was admitted to Lurie’s, she sent us various texts to give us insight all while apologizing for her absence. She was full of joy, glowing with life. She made me laugh and comforted my children. She was clever and smart. 

We praise God for Julie. Though we feel the death’s sting, we also thank God for His gift of Julie. We thank Him for having met her and having been blessed by her.