Dr. Julie Ann Justice

Burlington - Dr. Julie Ann Ellison Justice died on February 26, 2020, at the age of 48, in her home in Burlington, NC, from an autoimmune liver disease. Julie was born on February 21, 1972 in Orange, CA. She was preceded in death by her father, Richard William Ellison, who died January 18, 2018, and grandparents. She is survived by her son, William (Liam) Thomas Justice IV, of Burlington, NC; her ex-husband and Liam’s father, William Thomas Justice III, of Mebane, NC; her mother, Carole Isabel Koster Ellison, of Stafford, VA; and sister and brother-in-law, Jennifer Ann Ellison Jones and Kevin William Jones, of Blacksburg, VA.

Julie earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Wilmington and her Doctor of Education at Vanderbilt University. She began her teaching career for the Brunswick County School System in North Carolina in the 1990s. She also served a year as a Jesuit Volunteer from 1998 to 1999 in Billings, Montana. After receiving her doctorate, Julie served six years as Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at UNC Chapel Hill before joining Elon University as Assistant Professor in Education. There, Julie was deeply influenced by her time spent co-leading study abroad programs to Malawi, Africa. With a focus on literacy and teaching, she and scores of Elon students helped bring resources, books, and investment to Malawian schoolchildren in many underserved rural villages.

Julie was a beloved member of many families, both biological and chosen. She carried her father’s strength and love of music and embodied her mother’s determination and generosity of spirit. For her sister, she was a willing co-conspirator and confidant. For her son, Liam, her unbounded love, devotion, and sense of awe made the whole world magical every day. For the friends and extended family, she filled with her brilliant energy, she taught them to see delight and wonder everywhere.

A passionate advocate for literacy, children, and teachers, Julie was a transformative presence. She helped timid students feel at ease, demoralized teachers feel empowered, and jaded teacher educators feel energized to create social change. Her students, both middle schoolers and pre-service teachers, remember Julie for her creativity, the playful spark she brought to learning, how she challenged everyone to grow, and most of all her fierce belief in everyone’s ability to succeed. A generous mentor, she made big impacts, even in small moments, which will be felt far into the future by countless students and colleagues. For Julie, literacy is a human practice above all else: one that allows us to read and write a world full of beauty, light, joy, and connection. She had a gift for telling stories, both her own and those in books, not only through reading, but also through music, art, food, and relationships. She was known for her infectious laugh, the mischievous glimmer in her eye, and her endless and inviting energy. From her insistence on celebrating both the mundane and the milestone, to her concise analysis of social phenomena, to her mastery on water skis and a wakeboard--Julie knew “all the things” (to borrow a favorite phrase) and brought people together. In the concluding chapter of her book, Becoming Critical Teacher Educators: Narratives of Disruption, Possibility, and Praxis, Julie and her co-editor wrote, “We are all, all of these stories, and by listening and noticing each other we honor our shared humanity.” Julie’s accomplishments as a teacher and a scholar fully embody this commitment, as does her legacy as friend, family, and mother.

A funeral Mass and gathering will be held on Monday, March 9 at 10 am at the Elon Community Church U.C.C. It was Julie’s wish that people attending her funeral bring one book through which they shared a connection and exchange those books. We invite you to bring one book and write about its significance to you and/or Julie in the flyleaf. Julie’s ashes will be taken to Hawaii by the family to be spread on Mt.  Haleakala in the future.

If you would also like to donate to Julie’s Malawi Book Project, please mail a donation to the Julie Justice Malawi Book Project, School of Education, Elon University, 2105 Campus Box, Elon, NC 27244. You may also make an online donation through her gofundme page, https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-julie-justice-get-a-new-liver. All future donations on the gofundme page will be dedicated specifically to her work in Malawi.