Julia Wozgin Rappaport

" There are always flowers for those who want to see them" Henri Matisse

Julia Elizabeth Wozgin Rappaport, RN. EdD.

Wife, mother, grandmother, great- grandmother, nurse, passionate gardener, educator and friend

December 6, 1925 - July 27, 2023

Julia was born to Polish immigrants in Chicago, Illinois on December 06, 1925. She grew up in the vibrant Polonia community of Chicago where she learned to speak and read Polish as easily as English and developed a lifelong love of classical music and Polish food. She lived in the heart of the Polish community just off Milwaukee and Ashland Avenues with her mother, a working cook, and her father, a barber who had a shop on Milwaukee Ave. Julia was active in a band, orchestra, and an A student at Wells High School. She played classical violin in the orchestra and snare drums in the marching band. During World War II, when men were not available; she was a drum majorette in the first and only all women's marching band, playing for Polish Community events.

Julia went on to graduate from Northwestern University with a degree in biological science, followed by nursing school and her R.N. degree. While working as a nursing instructor at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Julia met and fell in love with Irving Rappaport who was completing his medical training at the time. They were married at the SAE Levere Memorial Temple on the Northwestern campus in Evanston on July 20, 1952 .

Shortly after their marriage , Irving was called back to military duty as a medical officer for the H-bomb testing program in the South Pacific. As a result, they moved to the West Coast and after a brief stay in Oakland, California they settled in Long Beach, California. It was there that Julia's garden really began to expand and blossom. By 1964 there were five children: two daughters and three sons. Due to her rapidly expanding family responsibilities, Julia realized a nursing career would not be possible. She enrolled in California State University, Long Beach, obtained her master's degree in education and embarked on her long career in education.

Her teaching career started in the 1960's with the Orange County Unified School district as a science teacher with Extended Learning Program at Taft Elementary school. Julia was able to combine her love for gardening with her curriculum in science and created a horticultural program for the elementary schools in Orange County. Many of the elements of the curriculum that she developed are still being taught today in communities around the country. Due to her work in Orange County, she was recognized by the American Horticultural Society as an expert in integration of gardening into the school environment. She went on to spend many years as a member and board member of the American Horticultural Society. Her efforts there set the foundation for an ongoing annual symposium in youth and child gardening as well as an on-site demonstration children's garden at the Society's headquarters farm at River Farm in Alexandria Virginia.

In 1966, the family moved to their current location in Orange County, California where they built their dream home on a two-acre plot and Julia started the foundations of her extensive gardens. These gardens would later earn her recognition as Orange County Master Gardener of the year. She also collaborated with the University of California Riverside agricultural extension on an experimental home avocado orchard which eventually resulted in a new avocado variety which she named "The Regal R."

Julia went back to school to obtain her doctorate in education from University of Southern California, USC. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the application of computers in education, a novel idea at the time. She moved into curriculum design and higher education, eventually teaching courses in Gardening and Science Curriculum design for Teachers at California State University, Fullerton.

When Julia retired from teaching, she did not rest. She was actively involved in many community organizations focusing on gardening, music, empowering women in the workforce, nursing education and community outreach. These included the Tustin Gardening Club, The Pacific Symphony, The International Visitors and Protocol Foundation of Orange County, Bulls Bears and Ladies - a women's investment club, Women's Sage, WISE and the Orange County Chinese Cultural Club. She served on the advisory board for the development of the University of California Irvine School of Nursing.



Julia and Irving loved to travel. They were able to travel the world from Antarctica to Alaska; Poland to Thailand; Israel to Sweden. Julia embraced the world and the people in it. It was common for a guest or acquaintance from their travels to visit Julia and become part of her extended family.

When her beloved Irv passed away in 2015, she took on the role as matriarch for the expanding family, guiding them through the subsequent years with wisdom and joy. She has helped 9 grandchildren grow into beautiful young men and women and celebrated the birth of 4 great grandchildren. She approached the travails of aging and declining health with resilience and humor. Julia was able to keep her hand in gardening throughout her 97 years. When she could no longer walk unassisted through the garden, she used her wheelchair to bring in herself and baskets of produce from the garden. Visitors to her home never left without a bag of tomatoes or a plant cutting.



Julia never lost her enthusiasm and wonder in the world around her, and she always wanted to be there for whatever was coming next. She showed us that one woman's embrace can be big enough to hold her family, her community, and her world. She leaves us with a living garden of beautiful memories.

We request donations in Julia's Memory to:

Julia Rappaport Growing Gardeners Fund

The American Horticultural Society

7931 E Boulevard Drive

Alexandria , VA 22308

or

online at AHSGARDENING. ORG/DONATE