In Loving Memory...

Sister Julia McMurrough, CSC
(Sister Marian Anthony)
Birth: March 30, 1936
Profession: August 15, 1957
Death: March 12, 2004

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter;
the person who finds one finds a treasure. (Sirach 6:14)

What a wonderful rainbow of responses poured forth when a number of Sister Julia’s friends were asked to characterize her. People remarked that she was “artistic” and “delightfully creative.” We experienced that in the form of decorated cards and messages that she sent, in thoughtful homemade gifts, in her creative craft projects, in her teaching others to do crafts (and often inviting them to share these with the poor and needy), in her poetry recently compiled in the book, A Rainbowed Life. Julia was so very gifted.

Julia loved nature. She took delight in plants, watching them grow and caring for them. Her butterfly bush brought her special pleasure in recent years. She enjoyed birds and always kept the bird feeders outside of her windows well stocked. Mountains were very dear to her heart – both the Pennsylvania mountains that were a part of home and her earliest memories, as well as the mountains of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, a favorite retreat place where her soul found solace.

Many remembered Julia for her “great sense of humor,” “her ability to laugh and enjoy a good time,” and “her love for life right to the end.” Rainbows, balloons and butterflies meant a lot to her – wonderful symbols of life, of joy and of freedom. Less than a week before she died, Julia was helping to plan her Vigil Service and funeral Mass, including her balloons! She wanted these services to be real celebrations of life. In the midst of the planning she even laughed with her sister, Brigie, two of her nieces and myself. Julia relished life and lived it fully, but she was also able to smile when the time had come to let it go. She was delighted with the 2 Cor. 5: 1-7 reading for Mass, and chuckled saying she was looking forward to her new body in heaven. Julia was a faith-filled as well as faithful, a valiant woman, unafraid. With conviction she knew where she was going, and who was coming to take her home.

She was remembered as “humble,” “simple,” truly “nurturing,” “always thoughtful” and “enthusiastically affirming of others.” One sister said, “Julia’s love was all-embracing.” Another friend said, “She really listened and cared.” Another beautiful remembrance was: “Her eyes embraced you.” One long-time friend asked me if I remembered how, “Julia always called people by name like God does.” And she did.

So much of Julia’s life was spent living and working with the poor and the powerless. In 1979 she was honored as the “Washingtonian of the Year” and was characterized as “Washington’s Mother Teresa.” Orphans, widows, ex convicts, drug addicts, alcoholics and mental patients were among the many in need who knew a faithful friend in Julia. She was the model of a consecrated woman. She never bore any children of her own, but she nurtured so many others throughout the years.

Julia’s leadership qualities were also mentioned: “She was a great leader and she never stood above the people that she led.” “She was open to learning new things.” “She could roll with the punches” “She had a way of discerning people’s gifts and helping them to use them.” “She gently urged people to go outside the box,” to think a little differently. “She was a combination of tender and firm; she could fight passionately for something she believed in, yet be very gently persuasive and respectful of persons.”

Julia had a great love for her family and they for her. She also had a great love for her Holy Cross family, with whom she had spent the last 50 years of her life. To these two families, as well as to the host of other friends of Julia, we express our sincere condolences.

Julia had her share of suffering in this life. She didn’t complain about it, however, but rather chose to embrace life with joy. As some friends said, “She taught us how to live well and how to die well.” How true those words are. In her dying days Julia spoke a number of times about “going into the light.” She looked forward to joining the good God who had been her life companion. 

May we who have known Julia as a faith-filled and faithful woman, cherish the wonderful memories each of us has of her. May those memories inspire us, help us to embrace our own lives more courageously, and prepare us to go into the light when our own time comes. There we’ll join Julia and our loving God for the greatest celebration of life and love. God speed, dear friend!

Written by Sister Kathleen Johnson, CSC

Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of the Holy Cross Ministry With the Poor Fund, Saint Mary’s, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556.