Julia MacWhinney

Julia MacWhinney
March 4, 1916 - June 30, 2021
Encinitas, CA
Our mother, Julia MacWhinney, lived through two pandemics, the Great Depression and two world wars. She remembers seeing General Pershing's triumphal parade down Broadway after returning from victory in Europe. On June 30, 2021, Julia died peacefully at home from natural causes at the age of 105.Born Julia Nanasy on March 4, 1916 in New York City, in Manhattan of Hungarian immigrant parents, Julia's first language was Hungarian. During her long life she was able to travel the world with her adventurous husband James and sometimes with her two children Brian and Maura.Later in life at age 45, she earned her BA and then MA and worked as an elementary school teacher in Riverside County for over 20 years. She excelled at teaching and made lasting impressions on her students.Julia was an avid reader and at one time was a member of three book clubs. At age 105, she was still attending a book club in her Encinitas neighborhood.Through the years, she also worked as an art consultant, as she loved the arts.She has two children, four grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. Brian, her son, married to Mary, is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. Daughter Maura Harvey lives in Oceanside and works with husband Bob in their small business of computational modeling. Maura (formerly Maura Wiegand) was on the City Council of Encinitas and was Mayor here in 1993.The surviving family lives throughout California and the East Coast.We are enduringly grate- ful to Mother's caregivers: Jonathan, Jill, Norma and Natasha.Julia was a friend to many and participated actively in community efforts. Donations in her memory can be made to the Community Resource Center, San Dieguito Heritage Museum, or Planned Parenthood. Please sign the guest book online at legacy.com/obituaries/ encinitasadvocate