Julie Whitmore

Julie (Ann) Klein Whitmore, age 69 of Freeland, MD, died Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. Julie was the beloved daughter of Louis and Theresa Klein of Plainwell, MI, sister to Daniel, Martha, and David, wife of 46 years to Brad, mother to Ian and Josie (Jocelyn), and grandmother to Alden, Saoirse, Tabitha, and Imogen.

Born January 13,1954 to hard-working, self-reliant parents, Julie grew up on the couple's farm in Plainwell, MI, inheriting her father's generous spirit and quiet industriousness, and her schoolteacher mother's deep focus on nurturing. Julie devoted her energy in life to making the things around her grow and under her care, they flourished.

As a child Julie had little interest in clothes or dolls but doted on the animals of the farm, excelling when she raised and showed sheep in 4H. She also developed an early enthusiasm for American history, sharing facts with her family during trips in their station wagon to places like Gettysburg and Washington, DC.

Although she was not naturally outgoing and had no special interest in sports, as a student at Plainwell High School Julie hatched a plan to grab the attention of a new student, a studious fullback from the football team who sat behind her in psychology class. Casually dropping a rehearsed quote about the local high school football legend Coach Streidl, she started a conversation that began her connection to Brad Whitmore, a bond that later grew during their shared time in Ann Arbor attending the University of Michigan, where Julie studied journalism.

Julie married Brad in 1977, and the two drove off in a blue MG Midget convertible. The next year, as Brad completed his doctorate, the couple traded the MG for a baby, welcoming Ian into the world. They moved to Maryland, adding Josie to the family in 1981, then briefly to Arizona, and eventually settled for good in 1984 in a small house that was originally built as a weekend getaway, with a few surrounding acres, set atop a hill in northern Baltimore County.

Together Julie and Brad hacked away the overgrown brush and grass they found there and cleared the rocky soil to make pastures for animals, gardens for vegetables, and a lawn that was overrun on most warm days of the year with the work of children-their own and the neighbors', who would visit for Julie's after school daycare service. Julie and Brad worked together raising barns, building coops, pens, and a greenhouse, assembling milking stands, and installing fences, all by hand. Julie proved herself surprisingly strong for her size and never shied from work that might be rough, messy, or onerous.

The land now prepared, Julie set about making things grow; under her care, flowers, garden vegetables, and houseplants became profuse and enormous. She raised goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, and llamas, but closest to her among the animals were a succession of pet dogs-mutts and hounds and spaniels and retrievers-one of which was often by her side if you caught her away from her house on one of many walks. (She had, however, no love for groundhogs.)

Her children and grandchildren experienced Julie’s patient presence in their lives as something unwavering and nurturing, like a steady glow from a grow light. She preferred utilitarian items for herself but she was a lavish and thoughtful gift-giver to her children and grandchildren, and a great and generous cook for them, indulging in intense flavors and constantly tweaking and perfecting recipes over years. Julie was unshowy, unfussy, plain-spoken, and, to anyone she encountered, equally kind, but her friendliness concealed a deep wit and a wry sense of humor that flashed at the corners of the conversation for those listening closely.

Julie loved and read deeply from American history. Though reticent to travel too far from her carefully-tended home, she made regular trips as a volunteer to maintain her adopted battleground site at Gettysburg, restoring it from its overgrown state to reveal the clear shapes of still-existing trenches.

Julie was a devout Catholic, regularly maintaining her shift at the adoration chapel at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in New Freedom, PA. Among the piles of books on gardening, animal care, and history in her house, titles directed to the lives and thinking of Catholic figures predominated. She was understated but not meek, and did not flinch from taking a stand for the things she believed in. When choosing to speak up, her brief, plainly-stated convictions would often prevail above anything that an excess of words might accomplish.

Julie was a deeply interior person who had an outsize effect on the people close to her. Slowly, her patient work turned a vision that was personal and unspoken into something real in the world—a place in which all those people discovered they had been given a part.

The memorial service mass will be held on Thursday, August 31, 2023, 12:00PM - 1:00PM, at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in New Freedom. In lieu of flowers, charitable contributions may be made to International Rescue Committee, or to St. John the Baptist Church.  Online condolences may be made under "Share a Memory" on this page.