Julie Glover Dorsey

Julie Glover Dorsey, eighty-two, of Farragut, Tennessee, passed away peacefully after a prolonged illness in the presence of her loving husband and youngest son on April 5, 2024 at the Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. An All-American girl, Julie Allaphair Glover was born on July 4, 1941, in Millen, Georgia to James Davis and Jeannette Stubbs Glover. She was educated in the Vidalia, Georgia public schools, earning straight A’s every year. Julie graduated from Vidalia High School in 1959, valedictorian of her class. She overcame serious childhood illnesses, including polio, to become quite an accomplished athlete. At VHS Julie earned state honors and established school records in basketball. Julie was fortunate to have been coached by the late Ralph Parsons. After high school, Julie attended the Georgia State College for Women in Milledgeville, Georgia on several scholarships. She graduated in three years with a Bachelor of Arts with majors in English and Chemistry. (Clever girl, before the age of computers, she would register twice, so that she could take extra courses). While at GSCW, she was honored to have visited renowned author Flannery O’Connor. Besides having interesting philosophical discussions, Julie often related tales of the many peacocks at Andalusia Farm, the O’Connor home in Milledgeville. After graduation in 1962, Julie turned down an offer to teach English in Atlanta and chose to become an Assistant in Agronomy under Professor L. J. Hardin at the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station in Knoxville and to pursue a post-graduate degree at UTK. She studied organic chemistry under Professor Jerome F. Eastham, earning a Master of Science in Chemistry in 1966. While at UTK she met George Francis Dorsey of Chattanooga. After two years of sharing a lab bench, exchanging poetry, studying together and occasionally playing golf, they got wise and decided to make a permanent tee-time together. They married on December 27, 1966, at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Dublin, Georgia. Together they were blessed with three sons. After seven years in Oak Ridge, Julie and her family moved to Fox Den in 1973. In 1978, while Julie was president of the Fox Den Homeowners association, she convinced the board to abandon the idea of incorporating Fox Den and instead to begin the process of trying to incorporate what was to become, in 1980, The Town of Farragut. Julie and her family were charter members of St. John Neuman Catholic Church in the late 1970s. She taught CCD classes (aka Sunday School) for some time Julie worked for 34 years at the Oak Ridge Y12 Plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, starting as an Analytical Chemist and leaving as the Superintendent of the Plant Lab. During her employment, she won numerous awards. To many, Julie was more than a coworker or a boss, she was a friend. She represented Y12 in working groups involving analytical chemistry within the DOE labs and internationally as part of agreements with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence. After early retirement in 2000, she continued to consult with the Los Alamos National Lab and others for several years. Julie and George enjoyed their retirement together by traveling the world on as many adventures as they could, visiting all 7 continents and 126 of the Travelers’ Century Club’s official list of countries and territories. They especially liked long cruises. But it was a highlight of her life that, while visiting Italy with her family, they were able to attend a general audience of Pope John Paul II and Julie was privileged to shake his hand and receive his blessing. Julie was an avid game player, accomplished at card games, board games, and puzzles. She excelled at Contract and Duplicate Bridge. She loved to read, scuba dive, crochet, do needlepoint and play golf. Julie enjoyed playing team tennis with her friends. One year, she won the club championship in tennis. She loved gatherings with friends, family, and extended family, especially on Kiawah Island, SC. Julie was an excellent cook and composed three “Friend and Family Fare” cookbooks of her favorite recipes to give as gifts. She loved flowers of all kinds, but especially roses. Julie had a hand in every rose planted in her yard, some seventy-odd of several species; she loved to work in the garden. She was an adventurous, intelligent, and loving person. She had a wide circle of friends and made friends everywhere she went, all over the world. She raised her three sons while working at a demanding and technical job through determination and with a good attitude and a willingness to work hard. As a woman in STEM, she was a pioneer, but she would never admit to it. Julie was also an exceptional mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother. She was the kind of grandmother who would always cut up the grapes and peel the oranges and was always happy to play a game of monopoly or work a puzzle or play trains with one of the grandchildren. She always made sure there were sweet treats around and brought back the coolest presents from her travels for her kids and grandkids. Julie was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters Corrine Thompson Page and Martha McLeod, and her brother, James Davis Glover, Jr. Julie is survived by her husband of 57 years; her son George, Jr. and wife Laura of Chapel Hill, North Carolina; son Michael and wife Susan of Lenoir City, Tennessee; son Andrew and wife Jennifer of Ooltewah, Tennessee; sister Mary Palmer and husband Mickey of Tarrytown, Georgia; sister-in-law Joyce Glover Cooksey of Woodstock, Georgia; brother-in-law John McLeod of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; several nieces and nephews; and her beloved grandchildren: Emma, Miles, Brendan, and Zac Dorsey and Laura’s son, Ben Leslie. The family wishes to thank all who have cared for Julie from the anxious time when she so greatly wanted to get a diagnosis of her illness through her distressing last months: Dr. Stephen Miller of Tennova Medical Group; Dr. Monica Crane of Genesis Neurosciences; Julie’s therapists from NHC and Servant Rehab; the staff and caregivers at Concord Place Memory Care and East Tennessee Personal Care Services; Michelle DiDiego of UT Palliative Care; the staff at Parkwest Medical Center and Covenent Palliative and Hospice Care; and, in particular, her special caregivers Sylvia Moreno and Sara Mendiola. A Funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, May 9, 2024, at 10:00 am at The Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville, Tennessee followed by inurnment in the Cathedral Columbarium. Father Joe Reed of St. John Neumann will be the Celebrant. The family will receive visitors at their version of an Irish wake Thursday, May 23, 2024, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Fox Den Country Club in Farragut, Tennessee. RSVP the party to marym@foxdencountryclub.com or call 865-966-9771. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests charitable contributions in memory of Julie Dorsey be made to: • the Brain Support Network, www.brainsupportnetwork.org, PO Box 7264, Menlo Park, CA 94026; • the Tennessee Memory Disorders Foundation, tmdf.org/donate/, 1400 Dowell Springs Blvd Suite 340, Knoxville, TN 37909; • or the Lewy Body Dementia Association, www.lbda.org/donate/ or www.lbda.org/contact-lbda/, 912 Killian Hill Rd, S.W., Ste. 205, Lilburn, GA 30047. That Julie lived her Faith, is evident by this quote from Scripture: 1…I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love,3 striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace —Eph 4:1-3. All who knew her would recognize Julie in these words. Of all her accomplishments there were none greater than to live her life as she did.

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Julie Glover Dorsey

July 4, 1941 - April 5, 2024