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Julie Kerr
Julie had a small memorial service at her home in San Diego. You can read the newspaper obituary and some of the eulogies from the service. The organization where Julie worked held a special conference in her honor. At the conclusion of the classified portion of the conference, family members were invited to attend the rest of the day's activities, and for us it was an extraordinary experience. Julie's coworkers from the local office, as well as from sister organizations in Baltimore and Princeton, talked about the impact of her technical contributions and what it was like to work with her. A colleague from MIT created a crossword puzzle for the occasion (with answers), and several coworkers performed their own compositions in Julie's honor: For Julie (listen to the music and see the score) and They Light the Way (hear the song and read the lyrics).
—Les & Arlyn Kerr Photos
We've compiled some of our favorite pictures of Julie in a photo album. Music
Writing
Computers
One of our favorite presents from her was a game she and Joel programmed three months before her death. It's a puzzle that can be played at many levels from child-easy to diabolical. It's called Planarity, and we play it all the time. Julie & Joel
VegetarianismBecause of her concern for animals, Julie became vegetarian, and then
vegan. Ferrets
WorkJulie knew she wanted to be a mathematician from an early age.
She worked for CCR (Center for Communications Research) Julie loved doing research mathematics. She felt fortunate to be able to do it as a career, and she loved working at CCR. Here are some comments about Julie by her coworkers. T-shirt Quilts
PoemAs part of the grieving process, Les wrote his first ever poem: a haiku that captures the essence of Julie's qualities. It's in Esperanto, a language Julie introduced to us, was important to her during her college years, and which has greatly enriched our own lives.
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Our
beloved daughter Julie died of a stroke at the age of 35. We miss
her greatly: her humor, her quiet wisdom, her cheerful voice, her zest
for life, her thoughtfulness, her compassion, her silliness. But
we're left with wonderful memories of her life, some of which are
encapsulated here.
Our
friends got together and sponsored a memorial bench for Julie at Kelsey
Creek Park in Bellevue, WA. It's located at the best possible spot
in the park: next to the rabbit enclosure by the animal barn, near a
flower garden and overlooking a beautiful green valley. In the
summer there are lots of children running around, many of them with
their grandparents who appreciate having a place to sit and rest for a
while. See photos of the 
Julie
started playing the cello in third grade, in the school music
program. Several years later she started taking private
lessons. She played in several youth orchestras, culminating in
the select Seattle Youth Symphony. Listen to Julie playing 
Arlyn
always thought of Julie as her Renaissance girl because she had so many
talents: music, art, science, philosophy, languages, various crafts,
etc. One of her talents and joys was creative writing. From
age 7 to 13 she wrote and self-published a small book every year—first
of illustrated short stories and later more like novellas. When she
was 15 she wrote a 
We
bought our first computer in 1979, when Julie was eight. Soon she
was doing some fancy Basic programming, as well as earning good pay
teaching computers to other children. In 1983 she led a team to
second place in an international programming contest for elementary school
students.
Julie
and Joel's 
She
wasn't in-your-face about her beliefs, but she did try to help others
aiming to adopt that diet/lifestyle. For that purpose, she created
an introduction to 
Julie
loved all animals, but especially ferrets. She had many ferrets over
the years, starting with Ellie when she was 14. She loved the
curiosity, energy, zany antics, and cuddliness of her "fuzzies".
every
summer during graduate school, and full-time after getting her PhD from
the University of Michigan. Here's her 
