Julie Nelson

Countless people will remember Julie Nelson as a valued and hard-working member of the Whiting Bay community, but in addition, her accomplished stage performances will live long in many minds. Whether in the Whiting Bay summer repertory season, the Drama Festival or in larger scale productions, she brought her own reliable, authoritative contribution as a performer. She had a presence and timing that were masterly, coupled with an ability to take the audience with her into whatever situation she chose. Her range was immense. She could be autocratic or vulnerable, comic or touching, and everyone, right to the back row of any hall, always heard every word she spoke.

Undoubtedly, Julie might have made a great success of the professional theatre, but her life in the real world came first, and much of her talent and hard work went into caring for the many people who needed her. She was utterly generous, making her energy and her kindness available without stint. Her creativity lives on in the memories of those who watched the expression of her rare talent on the stage, but it survives, too, in the family she nurtured and in the innumerable people who benefited from her good humour and her down-to-earth wisdom. She will be greatly missed.