Julie O'Hearne Kerlin

The inevitable arrived unexpectedly in the early hours of November 2, 2022. Julie O’Hearne Kerlin, our beloved mother and grandmother passed away.

The Spring leading up to her 95th Birthday was like those before it, Weekly nature walks through one of the parks along the Potomac River in Virginia. Admiring the Falls or searching out wildflowers along the path at Scott’s Run until we reached the edge of the river where the Blue Bells grow. Or, along the C&O Canal in Maryland searching out turtles and water birds. She biked and swam through the summer as was her routine. She and my father belonged to Langley Swim and Tennis Club before the ground was broken for the pool. Swimming laps from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Come September, we attended the first play of Signature Theater’s 2022-23 season. Living life was always front and center, just a little slower.

Julie O’Hearne was born October 20th, 1927, just before the start of the Great Depression in New York City and Graduated from Cathedral High School June 27th 1945, just before the end of World War II. She received a certificate for completing a course in Engineering, Science and Management War Training from Manhattan College, did her undergraduate studies at Hunter College New York City, followed by graduate studies at Johns Hopkins Baltimore. She began her career as an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency in 1952 where she met her husband, John Kerlin.

At her core, Julie O’Hearne Kerlin was a New Yorker. She had a New York sophistication in her appreciation of literature, theater, works of art, fashion, diverse cultures, politics and science. Though she maintained a connection to Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a master’s degree in Economics, it was Hunter College in New York that she credited for changing her life. It opened up possibilities she hadn’t imagined before.

It was this awakening to life’s possibilities through all forms of education that she strived to instill in her children and grandchildren. With her children; Christopher, Alysoun, Susan, and Phillip, and grandchildren; Mike, Janie, and John, she shared reading, visiting history and art museums, supporting Washington’s nascent theater companies and travel. The New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine along with books, from fiction to nonfiction to field guides, art and her collection of rocks and minerals inspired her children and grandchildren alike. Her little-known love of jazz which surfaced during a family friend’s Christmas Party when she expertly twirled around the room to the delight of all. And later, on Saturday nights listening to WAMU Hot Jazz Saturday Night.

We explored West Virginia, Canada, Pennsylvania, and Florida by car, traveled by train to Georgia and flew to California, New York, and Boston. On various trips there was learning to ski, hiking up Old Rag Mountain, viewing the Mona Lisa, bobsledding the Matterhorn at Disneyland, riding streetcars in San Francisco, or looking up at the Redwoods in Muir Woods. We traveled her streets of New York and looked down on them from the World Trade Center. She returned to bike the city in celebration of her 90th Birthday. She wrote to us of attending the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, of hiking above the Arctic Circle and through the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu. Other times, not so long ago, she bicycled through Bordeaux, along the Elbe River and across the Netherlands. Julie treated grandchildren with trips to Boston, New York and London. Our mother and grandmother set a challenging example for us with her lifelong pursuit of jogging, swimming, skiing, and bicycling. And even a stint at sail boarding.

During her decade or so of marriage to John Kerlin, she nurtured four children. Wearing out a copy of The Joy of Cooking, she conducted various culinary experiments. We alternately enjoyed or endured dishes such as rhubarb pie from home-grown rhubarb, popovers with creme filling and chocolate sauce, pumpkin chiffon pie, a favorite of all who were lucky enough to get a slice and the unforgettable pasta verde. There was a period of experimenting with patterns and a sewing machine. She sewed the clothes her daughters wore to their father’s funeral in December of 1964.

After John’s death, she returned to work at the CIA, working as a dedicated public servant until retiring in 1983. During these years, with 4 young children to care for, dinner every night as a family kept us all close, as did yearly family vacations over the holidays. As we grew up and left home, Thanksgiving became the time for her extended family to be together. These get-togethers were saddened and diminished by the death of Phillip in April of 2001, and Alysoun in December of 2015, but that eventually made us treasure the time together even more.

Being a dedicated lifelong learner. After retiring from the Agency in 1983, she spent her time doing volunteer work with the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. First at the Naturalist Center in Virginia, then later downtown at the museum. In April of 2018 she was recognized for her 25 years of service as a volunteer.

Julie cultivated friendships throughout her life. She shared many of her pursuits with Maxine, Helene, Alta and Fran. These were names heard often throughout our adult lives. But she also enjoyed conversing with her neighbors, casual acquaintances and strangers. Never missing the opportunity to share ideas and better understand her world. How our mother lived her life is something to be admired. Her strength and resilience. Her calm in the face of adversity and steadying example through the years. We are all thankful that we had so many years and so many memories to comfort us as we learn to navigate the years ahead without her.

Julie Renée O’Hearne Kerlin will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, joining John in eternal peace at 10 am, Friday the 24th of February 2023. A Memorial Service will be held Thursday, February the 23rd from 1pm until 5pm at the Murphy Funeral Homes Arlington location.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.murphy-fh.com for the Kerlin family.