Julia Diffily

1920 - 2011

Julia Mary Notermann Diffily, age 90, died peacefully at her home in Weatherford on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011. The cause of death was a long and beautiful life lived to the fullest. She leaves us and her faithful dog, Caitlin, to join her beloved Jack, husband of 65 years. Service: A private memorial service will be held for the family. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, friends who wish to note the passing of this remarkable woman are asked to make a contribution to the Nature Conservancy, or any other organization that seeks to preserve the beauty and wonder of the natural world she loved so much. Julie was born May 18, 1920, in Victoria, Minn. Some of her fondest childhood memories were skating the frozen ponds at her uncles' farms, candling eggs at her father's general store, and picking berries in the summer at the University of Minnesota Agricultural Research Station. At 14 she received a full scholarship to St. Benedict's Academy at the College of St. Benedict, where she was dubbed "Junior." A talented pianist, violinist and trombone player, she went on to graduate from St. Ben's at 20 with a bachelor in music. Always the scholar, she followed that with a master's in Latin and classical music from the University of Minnesota. It was while riding the streetcar to and from class that she discovered a lifelong love of crossword puzzles. Julie was teaching Latin at a Catholic school in South Dakota when news of the attack on Pearl Harbor came over the radio. She joined the USO and was sent to Barstow, Calif., as the director of the USO club there. And it was there that she met and fell in love with Jack, a handsome Marine corporal who was recovering from wounds received on Guadalcanal. They were married on Aug. 15, 1945, at St. Victoria's Church in her hometown. While enjoying dinner in Minneapolis the day before the wedding, news was received that the Japanese had surrendered. Jack promptly volunteered his bride-to-be to play the restaurant piano for the rejoicing crowds, and so she did all afternoon. The couple settled in Jack's home state of New Jersey to raise their family of five. Life was anything but normal, but always wonderfully exciting, with a revolving menagerie of dogs, birds, monkeys and hamsters, camping trips across the country every summer, and a grand piano dominating the living room. During their years in Clifton, Jack taught art and Julie directed choirs at St. Paul's, St. Andrew's, and St. Mary's School of Nursing. When Jack was working on his doctorate in art at Columbia University, Julie enrolled as well and earned an additional master's, this time in choral music. She always said it was "just to keep Jack company on his nightly commute." In 1968, Jack took a position as the director of education at the Amon Carter Museum, and the family moved to Texas. Julie loved Fort Worth with its many wonderful cultural opportunities. She was a regular in the audience at the Van Cliburn Competitions and gave many beautiful classical piano performances herself as a member of the Euterpean Society and the Whitlock Club of the Fort Worth Woman's Club. In 1978, she and Jack retired to "the littlest ranch in Texas" just outside Weatherford. For the next 25 years they enjoyed their art and music, raised miniature horses and donkeys, mastered the arts of making mustang grape jelly and prickly pear wine, explored the back roads on their motorcycle with sidecar, and solved countless puzzles. Julie also came out of retirement briefly to teach music at Weatherford College. After Jack's death in 2003, Julie continued her performances in Fort Worth. A traveler to the end, she took delight in recent years in trips to Minnesota, Montreal, Florida, Washington, D.C., Galveston, Arkansas, Carlsbad Caverns, and Belize. Her greatest pleasures, however, were watching the Texas countryside roll by on rides through Parker and surrounding counties with one of her children or with her best traveling buddy, daughter-in-law Tamara, at her side, complete with a stop at the Malt Shop afterward, and having a house full of company as long as there were plenty of pies for dessert. A faithful journalist, Julie began every entry with "Beautiful day!" and she began every jaunt through the countryside with an anticipatory "Where are we bound for today?" We will miss you, Mom, your grace, your laughter and that smile that always lit up the room. But, most of all, we will miss your music. Julie was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Gertrude Notermann; brother, Alfred; and sister, Elizabeth. Survivors: Sister, Ann Rose Dietz of Wayzata, Minn.; son, Jack Diffily and wife, Linda DeSola, of the U.S Embassy in Belmopan, Belize; daughter, Dr. Julia Diffily of Dallas; daughter, Joan and husband, Gilles Salette, of Montreal, Quebec; son, James Diffily of Fort Worth; son, Dr. Jeff Diffily and wife, Tamara, of Weatherford; grandchildren, Patricia, Robbie, Jennifer, Jonathan, Elizabeth and Elena; great-granddaughter, Lauren; as well as a large extended family in Minnesota. She is also survived by close friends Norma Collins, Pat Paradies, Joanne and Howard Schmidt, Dolores Tugwell, Richard McMullen, and Lillian Green.