Julia Fay Linfesty

1928 - 2013

Julia Fay Linfesty April 13, 1928 - 0ctober 19, 2013 Julia was born in Kentucky to Herbert and Macon Perkins. She moved with her family as an infant to Shandon, California. Later, the family moved to Buttonwillow where she attended school with her younger sister Sally. After her father died when she was only 10, she and her sister went to live with grandparents in Compton while her mother went into UCLA's teaching program. After her mother completed her studies, the family moved back to Buttonwillow, where Julia rode the bus to Bakersfield High School. They moved to Bakersfield where her mother taught in the Bakersfield City School District. After graduating from Bakersfield High School, she attended Bakersfield Junior College and received her BA in English from University of California, Berkeley. She enriched her education over life by earning several masters degrees and professional certificates. She returned to Bakersfield and started teaching in the Beardsley School District. After marrying Lyman D. Linfesty she gave birth to two wonderful children, Paul and Leslie, both of whom she instilled a strong moral and ethical foundation. After a hiatus of several years from work, she returned to teaching at the Greenfield School District, where she helped inspire students with the love of learning. She also mentored several teachers. Julia eventually became a Diagnostician, and later a Program Specialist for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. After retiring, she taught graduate level courses for University of Laverne, Cal Lutheran and CSUB. She also went into private practice at the Aslan Center. She was also involved in many civic organizations, including chairing the Blanche and Irma Weill Foundation for a number of years. She was also a former president of the Bakersfield branch of American Association of University Women and was a member of League of Women Voters for over fifty years. She served on the Kern County Road Tax committee and was heavily involved with Democratic Party politics. She greatly enjoyed gardening and reading. She also loved to travel after her retirement, touring such diverse places as Canada, Scandinavia, Russia and China. With the Friendship Force, she stayed with host families in Germany, Australia, New Zealand and South America. A lifelong love of theatre resulted in her traveling to Cedar City, Utah, where she attended the Utah Shakespeare Festival several times in the last decade with the CSUB Camp Shakespeare group. She is survived by her husband of nearly 60 years, Lyman Daniel Linfesty, her children Paul and Leslie Linfesty of Bakersfield, and her niece Lisa Givens of Turlock. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the AAUW Bakersfield Scholarship Fund (P.O. Box 10222, Bakersfield, CA 93389) or the Henrietta Weill Memorial Child Guidance Clinic (3628 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA 93309). Services are currently pending. www.bakersfield.com/obits