May 4, 1928-April 5, 2025
Julia was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to Thomas W. Meiklejohn and Ella Mae Markow.
Julia was an amazing woman, not because she was my mother, but because of how she lived her life. She was always full of life with a big smile and positive energy. She became a pilot in 1947 at the age of 19. Many years later, she received her Instrument and Float plane ratings. She made her first international trip to Europe at the age of 22 with college friends crossing the Atlantic on a Dutch Steamship called the SS Volendam. This would start a lifetime of travel adventures that led her to visit over 80 different countries.
In 1949 Julia drove by herself from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to Boulder, Colorado, to enroll in college. She studied English and graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a teaching degree.
Her first job was working as a school teacher and principal and girls’ basketball coach at the only school in the original town of Dillon in Summit County. Later, in 1965, Julia went back to school and got her master’s degree in speech pathology.
While living in Dillon she learned to ski at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area and eventually qualified as a member of the National Ski Patrol there.
She married Dale L. Johnson in 1954, and together they shared their love for hiking, camping, skiing. Dale also taught her how to rock climb. Together in 1957 they made the third ascent of Shiprock in New Mexico, and Julia was the second woman to climb this iconic mountain. Over the years she went on to climb the Matterhorn, Mt. Fuji, Kilimanjaro and many fourteeners here in Colorado, including Long’s Peak by various routes. She traveled to Peru and climbed 19,791-foot Mt. Tocllaraju. These accomplishments won her a membership in the American Alpine Club in 1971, when few women qualified.
In the late 1960s Julia helped Dale develop an outdoor equipment business they called Frostline Outdoor Equipment, which became a successful retail and mail-order company with 13 retail stores around the country.
In the 1980s Julia and five other people started the Wetherill-Grand Gulch Research Project. She was instrumental in spearheading and funding this one-of-itskind archaeological and archival research project. After its completion in 1990, the Bureau of Land Management presented the group with the agency’s highest award for their research. She was also nominated to become a member of the prestigious Explorers Club.
In 2005 Julia moved to Ridgway, purchased some land and built her dream home with views of the San Juan Mountains.
Julia had a big heart, always eager to strike up a conversation with strangers, invite then into her home for a meal and a bed if necessary. She was philanthropic, donating her time and recourses to local businesses. When she learned that the Ridgway High School’s music department did not have a piano, she bought the school a piano.
Throughout her life, she was a hiker, climber, skier, photographer, adventurer, philanthropist. She had a big laugh and loved to tell stories. She skied until she was 88 years old and rode a tricycle until she was 95.
She was preceded in death by her parents, brother, two sisters and her husband, Dale. Julia is survived by her son, Brad Johnson, and daughter-in-law, Rosmery Johnson, as well as nieces and nephews who reside in Wisconsin.
We all love you and miss you, Mom.
A memorial service is set for 11 a.m. Sunday, May 4 at the Sherbino Theater in Ridgway. Please RSVP to 970-626-5251.
