Julia B.‘Julie’ Nielsen

Aug. 23, 1916 – Nov. 25, 2010


It is with sorrow that the family announces that Julia B. "Julie" Nielsen of Dousman passed away peacefully Thursday, Nov. 25, 2010, at Waukesha Memorial Hospital after a brief illness, with her son and grandchildren at her side. She was born Aug. 23, 1916, to Emil A. and Julia C. (Lorenzen) Bahnfleth in Chicago.

Julie was a strong-willed and intelligent woman. As a single young woman in her 20s, and at a time when many never traveled far from home, she traveled alone to California and Hawaii on behalf of her employer on company inspection tours. She met her future husband, a sergeant in the U.S. Army, in Hawaii in 1939, and they were married there in early 1941. Raymond became a career Army officer, and Julie willingly became a dutiful and loving mother and housewife enduring his absences during two wars and moving with him to his many assignments, including Japan and Alaska.

Julie and her husband moved from California to Dousman in 1999, where she was a vibrant and active member of the Three Pillars Village on the Square community. She served several terms on the residents’ council as president and secretary. Many referred to her as "The Energizer Bunny" because of her outgoing and upbeat personality and her many involvements in the community. She was a faithful member of the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church of Ottawa until she quit driving at the age of 93.

Julie is survived by her son, Richard of Seattle; her grandchildren, Dyann Miller of Redlands, Calif., Sean of Seattle and Jennifer of Honolulu; and her great-grandchildren, Elizabeth Miller and Dennis Miller Jr. She is also survived by her loving niece, Cathy Davies of the Town of Delafield, as well as Cathy’s children and grandchildren who had adopted her as a surrogate grandmother following the passing of her sister, Peggy DuVal.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Raymond.

Her family feels fortunate to have had this wonderful woman, and they feel blessed that she was able to live so fully, suffer so little, and that they were able to be by her side as she passed on to the next life.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 13, at Three Pillars, Ewald Chapel, 375 Highway 67, Dousman, WI 53118.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Julia’s name appreciated to the Shriners’ Hospital for Children, Twin Cities, 2025 E. River Parkway, Minneapolis, MN 55414.