Julia Christine Stone

March 4, 2012

Julia passed away quietly in her sleep on March 4, at the age of 93, after battling cancer for two years.

A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00AM Saturday, March 17 at the First Presbyterian Church in Owensboro, Ky. A visitation will be held at 10:30am prior to the service. Heritage Funeral Home-Franklin is assisting the family and in charge of the arrangements.

She was born Julia Travelstead on a chilly spring morning in a rustic farmhouse near the small village of Enfield, Illinois, back in 1918. Her young mother wrapped the tiny 3 pound baby in a blanket and placed her in front of the wood burning stove, turning her every few minutes, to keep her warm. She prayed that her frail little daughter would survive.

Fortunately, Julia did survive those first few months, and eventually grew to become a very pretty and intelligent little girl. Her parents, Mattie and Luther Belt, later moved to Evansville, Indiana, where Julia enrolled at Bosse High School, under the name of Julia Belt, in the midst of the Great Depression. In spite of being so poor that she didn’t even have the 25 cents to buy lunch, and enduring the embarrassment of only having two dresses to wear to school, she walked seven blocks to and from school every day, rain or shine, and graduated with honors, a full year earlier than her age-mates.

With no money for college, her only option was to get a job, and try to support herself. A small medical office took the chance and hired the shy, young teenager to be their receptionist. She worked for them for the next 12 years, quickly impressing the doctors with her excellent typing, bookkeeping, accounting, and medical skills. Her sweet, soft-spoken manner charmed the patients, and her amazing ability to learn (and spell!) medical terms and procedures astounded the doctors. She quickly became the doctors’ office manager and assistant. They even offered to pay for her to go to college to get a medical degree, but she declined.

Julia did take a leave of absence, and moved to Chicago for a year, where she worked as the Administrative Assistant and Executive Secretary to the Surgeon General of the United States, the highly esteemed Dr. Charles R. Reynolds. Although she loved the job, she hated the cold, windy weather, and missed the quiet life of southern Indiana, so she returned to Evansville and her job with the neighborhood doctors.

In 1947, she met Joe Stone. He was a charming, “life-of-the-party” fellow who quickly won the heart of shy Julia. They married, and soon moved across the river to Owensboro, Kentucky, where they raised two daughters, Susan and Jody. Julia stayed at home while her girls were growing up, becoming an excellent cook, Sunday school teacher at the First Presbyterian Church, Girl Scout troupe leader, and avid bridge player. When Susan was in high school, Julia decided to go back to work to help with the upcoming college expenses.

Julia got a job as the Executive Secretary for the Superintendent of Schools, and was soon asked if she’d like to also become Director of the new credit union that was being formed for school employees. She initially kept a ledger of everyone’s loans, checking, and savings accounts, using only a pencil and a simple calculator. Of course, she made sure all accounts balanced, to the penny, every day! In less than nine years, when Julia decided to retire, the assets of the credit union had grown to over a million dollars, with hundreds of members, thanks almost solely to Julia’s charm, integrity, and hard work. The Owensboro Teachers’ Credit Union then merged with the Evansville Federal Credit Union.

Julia moved to Nashville to live with her daughter, Susan, when her husband, Joe, was admitted to the Alzheimer’s unit at the Life Care Center of Sparta, TN, in 2008. In September of 2010, Julia’s doctor discovered two cancerous tumors, one near her lung, another near her colon. Since that time, she continued to live with Susan, while receiving the support of Willowbrook Hospice of Franklin.

Everyone who has ever known Julia admired her as a lovely, gracious lady. She was preceded in death by her half-sister, Mona, and two half-brothers, Tommy and Marion. Her legacy includes the families of her two daughters (Susan Stone and Jody Johnson, both retired teachers), four grandchildren (Darren Haygood, Noelle Haygood Penta, Jennifer Johnson Williams, and Mark Johnson), and six great grandchildren.

She will be sadly missed by all.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Willowbrook Hospice, 381 Riverside Drive, Suite 440, Franklin, TN 37064.

Condolences may be sent to the family at the Heritage-Franklin website: www.tnFunerals.com