Julie Myers Lester

1969 - 2019

April 9, 1969 - April 23, 2019
Julie Myers Lester, lover of inappropriate humor and belly laughs with family, close friends and perfect strangers (preferably all mixed together), passed from this earth on Tuesday, April 23, 2019. Born in Fort Wainwright she tried out the age of 50 for exactly 2 weeks and determined that she'd had enough fun for one lifetime and should let others have a turn.
Julie's quest in life was not to bring pleasure to herself, but to bring warmth and laughter to others. "Spectacular" best describes her adventures - a spectacularly fast runner on the Barnette Elementary playground, a spectacularly gifted dancer and she was accepted into the National Academy of Arts at age 15. Her first summer jobs were in the fisheries at Togiak, where her spectacular talent gutting fish on the "slime line" led to a quick promotion to dock operations. Even before graduation from UAF in 1994, Julie launched a promising career in tourism and hospitality. Her spectacular wit and genuine love of people left a special impression on visitors to Alaska as she drove Princess bus tours around Fairbanks, up the Top of the World Highway, to Dawson and Skagway, and to Denali Park. She later enticed visitors to Chena Hot Springs as sales manager for the newly-refurbished resort. Moving with then-husband Don and the Gold Kings hockey team to Colorado Springs, Julie continued her adventures as a sales lead at the world-renowned Broadmoor Hotel. She turned her eye for spectacular opportunities to real estate, charming buyers of new homes while fixing up old houses and building new properties of her own.
Julie's exceptional life was not without peril. Her exceptional wit led to frequent bouts of paralysis and choking in those in her immediate vicinity as they found themselves abruptly overcome with laughter without notice. Unfortunately, her quest to bring light to others eventually began to burn her from within. A master of mixing the perfect cocktail to fuel book club discussions, game night hilarity and feisty family dinners, when Julie sought to moderate the use of alcohol in her own life, she found frustrating limitations in existing treatment models. She tried a myriad of treatments and interventions without lasting effect. Sadly, her beloved family and her personal health suffered as no treatment model was a match for Julie's unique needs. Her internal organs gave out one-by-one as alcohol continued to win the battle for the upper hand. Despite the tragedy of losing their mother, Julie's children - Jasper, Leah and Max - are strong and remarkable. Exceptional athletes, scholars and genuinely nice people, they are poised to make their mother proud with their future accomplishments. Her surviving family and friends in Alaska (mother 'Nanne Myers and best friend since childhood, Mary Irving Keelean), Colorado (her children, Donald Lester and Rex Feurer), Maine (father Wayne Myers and JoAnn), Algeria (sister Leah Myers Bitat and family) and Georgia (companion Joey Jones), all hope that those who loved Julie in life will lend support to improving treatment for addiction via support for organizations such as Shatterproof. Please consider a donation or, more importantly, a few hours of volunteer time to extend the lives of people seeking appropriate support to keep their own spectacular lights alive.