Julia Ann Schaenzer Whelan — known to all simply as Julie — passed away peacefully on November 30 at the age of 95, closing a full life marked by grace, intelligence, quiet strength, adventure and unwavering devotion to family.

The only child of Joseph and Teresa Schaenzer, Julie, was born at the start of the Great Depression. Her father’s work bringing electricity to farms throughout the Midwest meant frequent relocations for the family. Despite changing schools every year or two, Julie adapted with characteristic optimism and determination and excelled academically. Julie was always a joiner. When the family settled in Washington DC, Julie joined Girl Scouts and had the honor of selling cookies to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House — a moment that captured her poise and adventurous spirit.

Julie graduated from Cornell University, as did her husband, Tom Whelan. After college, she began her career in food science at Junket Laboratories, contributing to the development and marketing of their well-known custard products.

In 1952, Julie and Tom married, beginning what would become a model 65-year marriage. They built a life rooted in partnership. While Tom built a successful food service company in the Philadelphia area, Julie created a warm, steady, and welcoming home — the center for their family which grew to six children.

Julie and Tom were both foodies and renowned for their hospitality. They started neighborhood gourmet clubs wherever they lived —first in Cinnaminson, New Jersey; and when they moved to Hilton Head 40 years ago, in Port Royal and 15 years ago at The Cypress. Invitations to their extravagant dinners were coveted.

Julie was proud to be the founder of The Cypress Library and served as its president for more than a decade. She thought of it affectionately as her library, tending to it with care and enthusiasm. Julie and Tom also gave generously of their time to the Hilton Head Orchestra, where they found joy in supporting the Island’s arts community.

Julie was imbued with Midwestern self-reliance. For instance, back in the Garden State under the late-summer sun, Julie would lead a couple of her children up and down the aisles of U-pick fields, gathering bushels of tomatoes that would end up in Mason jars and become the tastiest winter meals.

Julie inherited her green thumb from her father. While Tom waged battle with dandelions in the front lawn, Julie was out back pruning fragrant roses and bringing inside armfuls of blue irises, lilacs, and hydrangeas. When her crocuses pushed through the snow, everyone knew spring was near. And somehow, she kept geraniums blooming indoors all year long.

Julie taught her children cooking and crafting, skills she inherited from her mother who also held a degree in Home Economics. In Hilton Head, Julie and her friends joyfully created exquisitely detailed miniature rooms — light-hearted vignettes of a one-room schoolhouse, a Christmas parlor, or a general store that looked ready for its close-up on a movie set. Each tiny scene carried her gentle humor and meticulous eye.

Julie and Tom were globetrotters beyond compare. The final count of countries they explored was about 133, a testament to their shared boldness and curiosity. Their adventures were not without risk: they survived the crash of a small plane in the remote African bush (a chunk of the destroyed wing later hung proudly in the home office) and the sinking of an outrigger canoe far from land off a Polynesian island, an ordeal that cost Julie her camera gear but, thankfully, not a single life. Remarkably, she undertook such perils despite being deathly afraid of deep water.

Julie and Tom planned and funded biannual family trips, gifting their children— and later their grandchildren too—with shared experiences in extraordinary places: the Yucatán, the historic waterways of France, Egypt, Peru, Tuscany, the Mediterranean isles, the castles of Ireland and Britain, and road trips through America’s great national parks. These journeys were gifts of time and togetherness and created the impetus that still drives explorations of the world.

Above all else, Julie treasured her family—the greatest journey and joy of her life with Tom. She is survived by their children: Tom Jr. (Donna), Joe (Deanna), Tim (Leeann), Pat (predeceased, as was his wife Victoria), Kathleen (Ron), and Barbara (Dan), along with 16 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

All are warmly invited to attend a Funeral Mass for Julie Whelan at St. Francis by the Sea Catholic Church on Thursday, December 11, at 10:00 a.m. Inurnment will follow in the Church’s columbarium. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Francis by the Sea.

After services, the family welcomes all to a luncheon at The Bistro in The Cypress Clubhouse, 20 Ladyslipper Lane, Hilton Head Plantation. Entry through The Cypress gate has been prearranged.