Born in Baltimore in 1917, Sister Julia graduated from the former St. Martin’s Academy in Baltimore in 1936 and entered the Daughters of Charity in 1938.
With a master’s degree in nursing from The Catholic University of America in Washington, she ministered primarily as a nurse, nurse instructor and administrator.
After serving in New England and Florida, Sister Julia came to the Baltimore archdiocese, serving as director of nursing at the former Sacred Heart Hospital in Cumberland from 1968 to 1970, and then as nurse supervisor of stroke rehabilitation at Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore from 1970 to 1972. She ministered as a nursing instructor for the Red Cross in Baltimore from 1972 to 1974 and as director of nursing at what is now the Jenkins Senior Living Community in Baltimore from 1974 to 1976.
After spending the next 23 years in the Washington area, she returned to Emmitsburg in 1999, joining the prayer ministry at Villa St. Michael and serving there until her death.