Julie Katherine Nagel came screaming into the world on April 28, 1986. When she emerged some 19 years ago, the doctor at Sibley Hospital told Susan, her mother, “This could be a blessing or a curse.” When her mother asked what in heaven he meant, the pediatrician replied, “This little girl has the best set of lungs and the loudest cry I’ve ever heard!” That was the first sign that this child was a force to be reckoned with.
JULIE WAS the beloved daughter of Jim and Susan Nagel and the second of their three daughters. While she might have been the middle child, Julie never did anything halfway. She loved her life dearly and lived it with enthusiasm. An athlete and a fierce competitor, Julie captained Wootton High School’s field hockey and lacrosse teams, earning all-state honors in 2003 and All-Met honors in 2004. Julie went to Appalachian State in North Carolina determined to play Division I field hockey, and she did just that. As a sophomore, Julie played in eight games and started two.
She approached her studies with the same dedication she brought to everything she did. Julie loved children and entered college thinking that she would major in education. She earned straight A’s in her freshman year. This year, continuing to investigate life’s possibilities, Julie was exploring a business major, perhaps subjected to some unconscious influence from father Jim and sister Lauren. She had recently pledged Alpha Delta Pi sorority.
So those are some of the facts of Julie’s life. Julie’s personality and character are a little more difficult to capture. Those who knew her knew the effect that Julie had when she walked into a room. Her radiant smile, her effervescence, her jokes drew people close. She befriended everyone and, as a result, had more friends than she could count.
One of her friends put it well — “Julie was the only person I know who could walk into 7-Eleven looking for two jumbo hotdogs and a Slurpee and walk out with the cashier as a new friend.”
Julie knew the meaning of loyalty. Once her friend, always her friend. And her friends knew that and counted on it.
JULIE BELIEVED that life should be fun, and did her best to make it that way — for herself and everyone else. Her friend said, “Julie knew how to make the dullest nights into fun, crazy, memorable times — like having ‘fluffy bunny’ competitions (which she always won) and playing dress-up with some of the funniest Halloween costumes” known to man.
She was also a source of endless surprise to her family. The words “clean” and “kitchen” never made it into the same paragraph with Julie. Julie never met a dish — at home — that made it to the dishwasher. But, much to the shock and amazement of those that knew her well, Julie became an outstanding server at the Rio Grande Restaurant, busing tables with a zeal matched only by the large tips she earned with her impeccable service. When her mother observed Julie’s talent at work, the shock waves in Susan’s brain registered 8.2 on the Richter Scale.
AT AN AGE when young people tend to be impressionable and anxious to conform, Julie was one of a kind. She was determined to make her own way and create her own path through the world with a confidence and a cheerfulness that were contagious.
Julie was a powerful person — she had the self-confidence, the self-possession, and the force of personality to go fearlessly out into the world and to change it for the better. The source of Julie’s strength and power, what made her so comfortable in her own skin, was the unshakeable, unconditional love of her parents, Jim and Sue, and her sisters, Lauren and “Kell-bell.”
This extraordinary family gave Julie the freedom always to challenge, to probe, and at the same time, to make them nuts! The same character traits that made her maddening to her parents at times were the traits that made her so very special. And the foundation of all these traits, all Julie was, is and would have become was love, the love of this Nagel family. This strength and this love will remain always.
— Shelly Pine is a longtime friend of the Nagel family.