Julia Lorillard Wampage Pell

PELL-Julia Lorillard Wampage of Middletown, Rhode Island, died of lung cancer on April 13, 2006, at Newport Hospital surrounded by her loving family. She was born in Washington, D.C. on May 9, 1953. She is survived by her life-partner, Julie Smith, her step-daughter, Elise McCaffrey, her parents, former Senator and Mrs. Claiborne Pell, her brother and sister-in-law, Toby and Janet Pell, and her sister, Dallas Pell. She is also survived by her nephews, Nicholas Pell, Clay Pell, and Eames Yates, Jr., and her nieces, Tripler Pell and Christina Randall. Educated at the Potomac and Madeira Schools in Virginia and graduated from Montesano, Gstaad, Switzerland, she received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rhode Island. She served on the boards of the Newport Art Museum, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and the Potter League for Animals. She was President of the Board and the lobbyist for the Rhode Island Alliance for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights, and a founding member of Equity Action, a Field of Interest Fund at the Rhode Island Foundation. Julie was a civil rights advocate and passionate about improving the lives of the disenfranchised, the oppressed, and those less-fortunate. Her father, former Senator Pell spoke out on the Senate floor about his daughter Julie, a lesbian. He said he now had a more profound understanding of the discrimination she faced. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the ACLU Foundation of Rhode Island, 128 Dorrance St., Providence, R.I. 02903; Visiting Nurse Service of Newport and Bristol County, 1184 E. Main Rd., P.O. Box 690, Portsmouth, R.I. 02871; and Equity Action Fund at RIF, One Union Station, Providence, R.I. 02903. A memorial service will be held at 45 Ledge Rd., Newport, R.I. on Wednesday, April 19 at 11 AM. Condolences, information and directions available at www.memorialfuneral home.com