Celebrating the Life of
Julia Gray Barnes Dowling
Highbury Hall on Monday 30th September 2024 at 2pm-5pm
Paddy and his family will be gathering at Highbury Hall in Moseley to celebrate the life of his wife Julie (Jule), a loving Mum and Nanna.
Adhering to the family’s wishes, Julie will be laid to rest in a natural burial ground in a small and private service attended by Paddy, Laura, Clare, John, Andy and her grandchildren.
Julie’s family will then be remembering her with fondness during the service and celebration at Highbury Hall, and everyone is welcome to stay to share light refreshments, memories and stories of Julie.
No flowers by request, however donations in lieu can be made to The British Heart Foundation.
Please do not feel obliged to wear black. A splash of colour, in particular blues or greens in memory of Julie, would be welcomed.
You will find links to Highbury Hall, The British Heart Foundation and dresscode in the drop down boxes below.
Directions to Julie’s resting place will be provided in the order of service at Highbury Hall should you wish to pay your respects at a later date.
Please RSVP your attendance at Highbury Hall to Laura on: aix_marksthespot@yahoo.co.uk or 07980 300078 as soon as possible and by Friday 20th September.
Messages / Comments
Julie’s family welcome any tributes, words of remembrance and stories about her so do feel free to leave any messages at the bottom of this webpage. (Please note comments are moderated so do not go live immediately)
RSVP
Please RSVP your attendance at Highbury Hall to Laura on: aix_marksthespot@yahoo.co.uk or 07980 300078 as soon as possible and by Friday 20th September
Highbury Hall
Highbury Hall, 4 Yewtree Road, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 8QG
Click on this link for a map and directions to Highbury Hall.
Donation / Flowers
Donations in lieu of flowers in memory of Julie will be welcomed for The British Heart Foundation.
Click on this link to donate to The British Heart Foundation
Dresscode
Please do not feel obliged to wear black. A splash of colour, in particular blues or greens in memory of Julie, would be welcomed.
6 Comments
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So sad to hear the news about Julia . She was a delightful, warm and sensitive person . I mainly knew her from the Women’s Sunday walking group . We were both unable to do the really tough walks , her because of her heart , me because o& my knees . She will be greatly missed
Rest in Peace ZJulia
Oh Julie – no more chance encounters on the High Street, or in shops, or coming and going on the daily round. It is a measure of her warmth, her openness, her embracing spirit, that despite our friendship consisting solely of these encounters – which could go on and on as we exchanged family news, and snippets of our lives, and laughed a lot (and blocked the path of other shoppers as we put the world to rights) – that I now feel her absence so keenly, and will miss these chance chats so much,We always said “We must do this properly, more often” – and I’m very sad that now we can’t. Her loss leaves a gap in many lives, including mine. We can only fill the gap with our own treasured memories.
I first met Julia in the 80s one Easter when our families found ourselves renting holiday cottages on the same former farm in Shropshire on the edge of the Long Mynd. Laura and my daughter Ruth were the same age, got togeter and spent happy hours playing in the open, often with Clare. My older twin sons had each other as playmates.
Julia and I also bonded quickly – it would have been hard not to with Julia – and the holiday worked so well that we all decided to book the holiday cottages again next year. I am sure Paddy and my husband David also got on well, we all did, but my memory is a bit fuzzier around that – it was nearly forty years ago.
Julia and I have not seen each other much in the intervening years. although I stayed once overnight with Julia and Paddy when I was working in Birmingham. One thing that has kept the thread of friendship going between us is that Julia was a brilliant letter writer, with which I endeavoured to keep up, so we exchanged lots of personal and family news at Christmas every year without fail.
But the main thing is that Julia was just such a lovely person, warm, generous, open-hearted, and I certainly did not want to lose her from my life. One element of my sadness at her passing is that over the last year or so we have said to each other that we would like to meet up again and talked of getting together in Cheltenham, half way between Birmingham and Bristol. Other issues tended to get in the way, but I really thought it might happen this autumn.
Above all however, I really want to join in celebrating a wonderful woman and a wonderful life. I am so glad that our chance holiday meeting led to me knowing her. She has enriched my life. I am sorry not to beat the celebration of her life in person, but I wish you all joy in your love for her as well as the inevitable sadness, which is so keenly felt.
A kind and lovely soul gone too soon.
I miss seeing you in the school playground, picking up your grandchildren.
Your grandchildren adored you.
You were always so happy and always asking how me and my family were doing.
You’ll be sorely missed.
Xx
Flowers come. They bloom and go
We loved them and we miss them so
The same with friends:they come, they grow
And then one day they up and go
We loved them and we miss them so
(Written by David Walser on the death of Jan Pienkowski)
Julia, my beloved friend and valued colleague for such a long, long time . I will miss your beautiful energy, kindness , love and support . So blessed to have had you in my life. Love always . Mina ❤️