After a short struggle following a stroke, Julia died on Friday, September 14, in Victoria General Hospital. Her family wish to extend their gratitude to VGH staff for their extraordinarily tender and thoughtful care of her.
Jools is survived by her husband Peter; her two stepsons, Daniel and Patrick, their wives, Rachelle and Shivaun, and their children; Sol and Louis, the children of her late stepdaughter, Rebecca; her brother, Sam, and his wife Jennifer; and her cousin, Margaret Middleton, and her husband Mike in England. She leaves many friends in Tofino and Victoria. We shall all miss her deeply.
Born in Manchester, England on January 19, 1944, Jools had a difficult time in her early decades, and at best uneasy relations with her parents and brother. In December 1969, she emigrated with her mother to Victoria. She soon joined the staff of UVic's MacPherson Library, where for many years she was a forceful presence on the Loan Desk. On February 29, 1984, she married Peter Robbins, and thereby acquired three teenage stepchildren, a challenge she embraced.
She increasingly sought a quiet life away from urban noise and disruption. She and Peter eventually settled in Tofino, where she loved the relaxed world of the Pacific coast. She had experienced a life marred by health issues, and that pattern continued in her final years. It culminated in the stroke she had dreaded-it had been her grandmother's and her mother's conclusion to life--but her death spared her their unhappy ends.
Jools easily made friends wherever she was. Her sense of humour made her seek the fun and irony in all things. She had zero tolerance of fools and resolutely resisted pretension and b.s. She could be dogmatic and even combative, not least over cooking, an activity in which she excelled: no one left her table hungry or dissatisfied. But she was also forgiving, and kind and loyal to her family and friends.
Donations in Julia's memory may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.