Julia Alice Stephen

JULIA ALICE STEPHEN 9 April 1932 – 4 December 2018 Julia Alice Stephen was born in a farm house near Levant, Kansas on 9 April 1932 to Harold Leon Gillispie and Agnes Anne (Dryden) Gillispie. She was the oldest of four children and was often in charge, at least when she was not busy milking the cows and feeding the chickens. She took that job seriously. One time her youngest brother fell into a cistern and Julia saved his life by pulling him out. She went to a one-room school. Her love for shoes came from her Uncle Vern who was a cobbler and made her all the shoes she wanted. When she was 12, they moved into the big city of Salina and got a phone. The phone number was 2441Y – it was a party line. Julia had a dog named Tippy which was short for Tipso Louise Perkins and a parrot named Toby which was short for Timothy Tobias Tucker. Since they lived next to a vacant lot which served as the neighborhood hangout, Agnes often fed the neighborhood children cookies, doughnuts, popcorn or fudge. Because the family often sang songs, Julia learned to play the piano. She also taught Sunday school and sang in the church choir. She also played the saxophone and all the woodwinds but preferred the clarinet. She was in the Homecoming Court in high school. In Marymount College, Julia studied Math and Education. She worked for the Conservation Commission and had a GS rating as a government employee. Julia also was a Student Teacher at Salina Junior High School where her sister went so Elsie had to call her “Miss Gillispie.” After graduation she taught Math for one year before marrying John Gilbert Stephen who was an Air Force Colonel. John often commented on the large bag of shoes he had to pack whenever he loaded the car for a family cross-country trip. As an Officer’s wife, Julia was active in the Officer’s Wives Club. Other things that kept her busy over the years were selling real estate, running a Duplicate Bridge Club, writing poetry, decorating shirts, making jewelry, baking cookies, working crossword puzzles, bowling and listening to Country Music. She was a Life Master in bridge. Julia was active in the church and was a Deacon in the Presbyterian Church of Westminster. She sometimes took her sister to the Crystal Cathedral where the guest soloist was often Glenn Campbell. Her favorite food is bruschetta and her favorite drink is an ice cold chardonnay. A good summary of Julia Alice Stephen is that she always put the needs of others (her husband, children, family, clients, students, friends, bridge players, neighbors, etc.) above her own needs because she cared so much. She taught Sunday school and high school math because she loved children. She was an extremely independent, loving, considerate, compassionate Mom who raised two independent children. As a deacon, she called and visited people who could not make it to church thus extending the church warmth and love. When she sold real estate, she cared more about the peoples’ needs than making a sale. Julia enjoyed watching people and loved when her family left the farm to go to town from the farm, so she could watch her brothers and sister while she watched the people in town. Julia was preceded by her husband, John, and her two brothers, Harold and Leonard. She is survived by her sister (Elsie with her husband Nils), two children (Mark with his wife Anne and Joni with her husband John), seven grandchildren (Dawn and her husband Ferdinand, Sean and his wife Kaitlin, Adair, Valerie, JT, Rachel and her husband Tyler, and Gregory) and four great grandchildren (Keyanna, Evangeline, Damien and Harper).

Julia Alice Stephen

April 9, 1932 - December 4, 2018