Obituary of Julia S. French

February 24, 1929 - December 8, 2020

Julia Sophia French (Julie), 91, passed peacefully into the arms of Jesus at 6:12 PM on Tuesday, December 8, 2020. She has been reunited with her husband, Ralph, parents, sisters and brothers who passed on before her, and her son-in-law, Tom McDade. She had her loving caregivers, daughter Linda and son-in-law Corky, by her side, holding her hand, comforting her, and conveying the love of all of her children and grandchildren who could not be with her.

Julie was born on February 24, 1929 in Rochester, MN, the second daughter of Carl Ludvig Swanson and Julia (Lonson) Swanson.  She grew up in St. Louis Park, MN and graduated from St. Louis Park HS in 1947. After high school she worked for Dayton’s Department Store, attended art school, traveled the country with friends, staying in hostels, and in early 1949 she joined the US Navy as a WAVE.  She was an adventurer!

Julie was a voracious reader and shared her love of books with all of her children.  She learned to read before even attending school when her sister, 10 months her senior, brought books home from school. Julie picked them up and taught herself to read!

On December 2, 1949 she was united in marriage to Ralph Edmond French, whom she met while they were stationed together in Norfolk, VA.  She knew he was the one for her because the loving stories he told of his family in Michigan showed his love of family.  That Christmas when he took his new bride home to meet the family, his young brother exclaimed that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen!

She left the WAVES, but not the Navy as Ralph’s career took them from Virginia to Michigan, Hawaii, Florida and back to Michigan during which time she had 7 children.  They finally settled in Rockwood, Michigan where Julie was head cook and bottle washer of the house she made a home.  She was an active member of Huron Valley Reformed Church.  She was part of the ladies’ guild and provided beautiful, hand sewn, banners for the church sanctuary. During this time she also enjoyed creating ceramics, sewing clothes for her family, and working for a while outside of the home with her dear sisters-in-law at Downriver Lawn Service.

After Ralph’s early retirement from Chrysler, they moved to Las Vegas, NV with their youngest daughter to get away from the snow and join their two oldest sons.  While in Las Vegas Julie took up quilting, joining a quilting club for encouragement.  Her very first quilt, designed by her, would represent the Statue of Liberty and be entered into a nationwide contest to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Lady Liberty.  This project was near and dear to her heart as her father had immigrated to the US from Sweden through Ellis Island.  Her beautiful creation came in first for the state of Nevada! With that win came a trip to NYC to see her quilt displayed with all the other state winners and see the Statue of Liberty in person.  She also received a special commendation from the governor of Nevada.

Many more happy times would be spent during her 30 years in Las Vegas.  Several family members moved nearby which made for many special memories, of holidays spent with family and friends, mountain picnics, plays at Spring Mountain Ranch and breakfasts at Red Rock Canyon among some of them.  Julie and her sister Mary Lou decorated the sanctuary at Trinity UMC at Christmas for many years. She designed and created a Christmas welcome banner for the entrance, published a reference guide for making Chrismon ornaments and a booklet for a worship service to tell the Chrismon story. She always celebrated Christmas Morning with family and made every gathering a special event. Sundays were a special day set aside to spend with family. She also redesigned one of the tennis courts at her complex to a park setting with trees and benches and a bocce ball court which bears her name. During this time, on her visits east, she would enjoy girls trips with her daughters and granddaughters and seeing her children, grandchildren and other family members.

10 years ago, Julie moved back to Michigan at the request of her daughters who wanted her closer. She took several memorable trips west to visit her sons and grandchildren, always creating unforgettable moments. She became a champion to her warrior granddaughter who battles Crohn’s Disease by creating and raffling a quilt to raise money for awareness for the last 7 years.  She divided her residence between her daughters’, Paula and Linda, homes, finally settling 2 1/2 years ago at Linda’s home.  She loved watching the freighters on Lake Huron out of Linda’s picture window. She always enjoyed playing games and received the nickname Dominique for her cunning Dominoes skills.  

She celebrated her 90th birthday blessed to be surrounded by all of her children plus lots of family and friends. Loving all things royal, she was crowned queen for the day. This memory is cherished by all who attended.

Julie loved and cherished her family and friends.  She often showed this love by handcrafting special gifts such as quilts and other crafts.  She was a letter writer and sent a Christmas Letter every year.  She would mail her children and grandchildren cards with articles she had read that she thought they would find interesting.  Sadly with a large family there is sometimes distance in miles, but Julie kept them close with the time she took to write letters. After creating her first quilt she was inspired to collect all things Statue of Liberty and enjoyed perusing antique stores to add to her collection.  She would usually add to other’s collections as well finding the perfect gifts.  She will be deeply missed by all who knew her and loved her.

She is survived by her sons Richard (Sherri) French and Gerald French, daughters Linda (Corky) Christie, Laura (Tim) Metzger, Valerie (David) Rawlins, Paula McDade and Jill (David) Maxton, 24 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great grandchild, brother-in-law Hjalmar French, sisters-in-law Verona Swanson and Marion Swanson and numerous loving nieces and nephews.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the family will hold a celebration of life with military honors at a later date TBD.