Julie Block Harper
Julie Kaye Block was born on March 2, 1958, in Phillips County Memorial Hospital, in Holyoke, Colo., to parents William John and Berdeen Ethel Eberhardt Block. She was baptized at St Paul Lutheran Church in Amherst, Colo., and resided on the family farm in Phillips County.
At age four the family moved to Perkins County, Neb., where Julie attended grade school, Zion Lutheran Church, and was active in 4-H. Julie learned to sew, bake, and decorate cakes while in the Farmerville Farmeretts 4-H club. She continued to use these skills through all her life.
Her love of cats started with her first orange tabby that looked like Morton in the cat food commercials, so she named that kitty Brandy Sterling Morton. She started square dancing with her sister, Anita, and parents and spent time and effort creating costumes. The joy of making and wearing costumes was lifelong, every Halloween was well planned.
She was her own joyous self, preferring Tonka trucks and toy horses to dolls. Her love of horses started with a pony and later a quarter horse that she rode in trail rides and cattle moving. Even though she never had a horse as an adult she still loved them.
At age 15 the Block family moved to Limon, Colo., where Julie played clarinet in the marching band, graduated from Limon Public High School (1976) and kept a circle of friends laughing with her wild sense of humor.
Julie attended Mesa State College in Grand Junction. After graduation, she stayed in Grand Junction and worked in a mining development office where she spread her joy of life to her fellow employees with pranks and jokes. One of her pranks was published in Capper’s Weekly for changing the names of all the sodas in the machine for April Fool’s Day. She had the gift of gab and never met a stranger, making her the perfect front office person.
During the Disco scene of the early 80s, she met Steve Harper and coerced him into learning to square dance. They married in 1984 and stayed in Grand Junction and Delta, Colo. On her husband’s transfer in 1985 she was transplanted to Kingsport, Tenn. with her cat where she worked for a legal service.
Julie and Steve moved to Laurel, Miss. in 1988, where she worked for Reynolds Realty and became active in Jones County Republican Women, Jones County Republican Executive Committee, West Laurel United Methodist Church as Secretary to the Trustees, and the Veterans Memorial Museum as a volunteer. They traveled for softball games where Julie kept score and chatted with everybody. Together they visited the Carolina coasts, Washington DC, Florida, and Mississippi coasts as well as trips to the Colorado mountains.
In her lifelong love of Colorado, she kept a Colorado license plate on her car and delighted in talking with anyone who had a connection to her home state. She became a Denver Bronco fan after attending a game with her Dad in the late 70s and happily cheered on the underdog.
Julie had a strong faith in her Lord and Savior and showed her love of Jesus by nurturing friendships, sending cards as ministry, and lifted spirits despite her own impediments. Her gift of laughter and laughing at herself kept those around her in stitches.
She was generous with her time and talents to make people laugh, and to help others. She regularly baked and delivered cakes to friends, church, and the Veterans Memorial Museum volunteers. She had a loyal following of cake testers.
Julie enjoyed visiting the Animal Rescue League for ‘fur therapy’ when she was cat-less where she adopted cats. She supplied them with food, newspapers, rugs and old blankets. She especially loved rescuing black cats so they could have a good life.
Julie left her earthly life on Nov. 15, 2022. She is survived by her husband, Steve Harper of Laurel, Miss., her sisters, Beverly Kruse (Charles) from Parker, Colo., Anita Block of Grand Junction, Colo., nephew Eric and Marie Kruse of Alaska, cousins in Colorado, Nebraska and Texas, and friends far and wide.
In lieu of flowers please make donations to West Laurel United Methodist Church, Veterans Memorial Museum, or the Animal Rescue League in her name. Memorial service plans are pending.