Julia Chaklos

For those of you who knew Julia (Winiarczyk) Chaklos, she died December 17, 2012. She always had a smile. She seldom said a cross word, and as a matter fact, none comes to mind. Julie, as she preferred to be called, liked just about every person she met. She was born in Pittsburgh but moved to a farm in Pont, PA (near Albion) when she was a small child. Her parents buried two of Julie's siblings in Pittsburgh so maybe they wanted to get out where the air was cleaner. She went to a two room elementary school – she said the teachers were husband and wife, with the wife teaching the younger kids. She graduated from Albion HS just a couple years before it burned down. (She had nothing to do with its burning.) Julie trained as a secretary, but gave it up because it didn't pay enough in those days. She also had aspirations of being a doctor. Skipping two grades in school she was smart enough, but I guess life just got in the way. Julie married and had a home on the outskirts of Crossingville, PA, for several years, among her in-laws. The in-laws were almost like her own family to her even after she was divorced, but still, four years after the divorce she picked her kids up and headed for Erie to be closer to where she worked. She wasn't a stay-at-home mother most of her life because she had four mouths to feed (she had two daughters and two sons, all about two years apart); she worked as a sawyer at Penn Brass/Penn Extrusion for most of her working history. Julie called Erie home for more than 50 years.

Julie liked to travel and went all over the US, plus several trips out of the country. Of her most memorable trips, she went to Hawaii with her good friend Bob Fisher, as well as to England, France and Poland. She was proud of her travels, especially the one where she went to Poland to find the place her parents came from. Their homes are no longer standing, but she took pictures of the fields where they stood at one time anyway. (You probably have to use your imagination.) She met many relatives (cousins and such) while she was there.

All of Julie's siblings had preceded her to what undoubtedly is a better place, although a sister-in-law and a brother-in-law survive her. She lived in the warmth of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, all of which are sad to feel her passing, but happy she is at peace. And she has many wonderful nieces and nephews who undoubtedly share the same feelings. She has had many friends, too, but she would often find their names in the obituaries which she read first thing every morning. That's what happens when you get to be 90-something.

Julie was a kind, generous, thoughtful person who had an ordinary life with an extraordinary attitude. She will surely be missed.

Friends may call at the Burton Funeral Home, 525 Main Street East in Girard, on Thursday from 4 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. with a funeral service following at 6:30 p.m. in Burton's All Faiths Chapel. Condolences may be sent at www.Burtonfuneralhome.com.