Julia Cooley — May 9th, 1941 to Oct. 4th, 2023
Julia Cooley (Guthrie) will be remembered by family and close friends for her fierce love, humanist ideals and exacting wit.
Firstborn to Dr. P. C. F. Guthrie and Jesse Patricia Lyon, Julia spent her early years at Acadia Camp on the grounds of the University of British Columbia, where her father taught in the Classics Department.
Shy, freckled and bespectacled, Julia relished out-sprinting the shoreline at Spanish Banks or bussing to Saturday matinees at the Stanley, the Park and Hollywood cinemas.
Known as Gus as a teen to her friends, Julia graduated from University Hill School in 1959, before attending UBC and becoming an elementary school teacher. In the 1960’s, Julia often taught in classrooms of 36 to 40 students, first in Coquitlam and then as a newlywed in Campbell River, B.C.
In 1969, pregnant with their firstborn, Julia and her husband, Jack, white-knuckled a teal Rambler up the newly paved Highway 99 North to a raucous teacherage filled with youthful and idealistic educators in Squamish.
After her son, Patrick, was born in 1972, Julia and Jack bought a forest green house on the edge of Brackendale, where she and Jack raked their near-barren “moon-scape” into an abundant garden. To this day, their Crabapple tree is almost always in bloom on Julia’s birthday.
Julia stayed at home while the children were school-aged, supplementing family income with in-home childcare, tutoring, as well as by semi-professionally entering store or brand-sponsored contests, winning trips to California and Florida, and once winning free groceries for a year.
In her late 30’s, Julia progressively slowed with the onset of debilitating Ankylosing Spondylitis, a spinal fusion known as “Bamboo Back”. What never diminished though was a lifelong yen for crafting and a passion for the written word. Always with several books “on the go”, Julia would have happily carted her weight in library books from both the Squamish and West Vancouver branches; her table at home becoming “the stacks”, which were cleared for meals or friends popping by for coffee. After Shannon and Patrick left home, Julia returned to teaching elementary school part-time for almost 10 years.
Throughout her life, Julia fervently maintained that a strong, well-resourced public education system is a positive, equalizing force and essential to a thriving democratic society.
When granddaughter Josie was born and complications arose for Shannon post-partum, Julia moved in for six months, playing lovingly with Fred and Josie while Shannon recovered.
In her later years, Julia and Jack enjoyed cruises with family and friends to Alaska, the Caribbean, New Zealand and the Baltics, until the symptoms of COPD precluded travel, necessitating a move with Jack to Shannon Falls Retirement Complex.
Like most teachers, Julia never stopped being an educator and was influential beyond her realization, nourishing relationships with warmth, enthusiasm and generosity.
The Cooley family is grateful for the decades of care provided by Dr. A. Bohn, as well as the personal care given to Julia by Shannon Falls Retirement Complex, Sea to Sky Hospice and Hilltop House.
Julia is predeceased by her brothers, Patrick, who died in infancy and Kenneth. She is survived by her devoted husband of 58 years, Jack H. Cooley, brother Donald (Los Angeles); daughter Shannon (Squamish), son Patrick (Port Coquitlam); in-laws Steve and Nancy (Campbell River), and grandchildren Frederick (Surrey) and Josephine; as well as dear friends and extended family. At Julia’s request, there will be not be any service.
In lieu of flowers, kindly donate to the Squamish Streamkeepers Society, the Canadian Spondylitis Association, the Hilltop House Society or PearlSpace (formerly the Howe Sound Women’s Centre).
