Julieanne Dowdell (3 Feb 1954 - 20 Apr 2025)

In loving memory of Julieanne Dowdell who sadly passed away on 20th April 2025. It really is true to say that Julie isn’t someone whose life is easy to summarise. She made the most of life in so many different ways and through all the ups as well as the downs, her many strengths made her someone people took to wherever she went. A positive, creative person as we’ll hear and also someone who could – as you’ll remember, I’m sure (!) – be quite direct at times…But however you knew Julie, whether as a family member or as one of her many friends, you’ll miss her greatly I know.
She was born in the Tower Hamlets area of Dover to parents Mavis and Ron and grew up with her older sister, Pam and older brother, Chris and adopted (Aunty) Audrey. Julie was the youngest of the three children and she was always very close to her father. She would ride pillion on his motorbike, for instance and he loved and encouraged her in all sorts of ways as a little girl. Ron was a boatswain on the ferries and there was, tragically, a dreadful accident in which he lost his life. This was made all the more traumatic for Julie by the way in which children used to be “kept away” from such awful events and shut out of the way in which people dealt with the aftermath of Ron’s death. It was something she continued to feel affected by all her life.
She did become close to her honorary Uncle, Brian Ayling and his wife, June and Brian became something of a characterful substitute father figure in Julie’s life as she grew up. He could be a bit cantankerous and got into some memorable scrapes at times, made all the more colourful by the fact that Julie’s Mum Mavis took in police officers as lodgers!
Having left school at fifteen, Julie worked in Boots the Chemists. She was also able to buy a horse, romantically named “Black Harmony” but known as Blackie. Julie had a great friend, Sue Thompson who also had a horse and they became life long friends. They would enjoy the freedom of riding around the Alkham Valley and both Blackie and the friendship with Sue became real highlights of life for Julie.
Her boyfriend Ray was another character in Julie’s life though eventually Julie met Nick. Nick wanted to become a forester and so it was that they lived in the Gloucester area for a while and then went on to Fort William in Scotland. They lived in a very remote part of the forest there, way out of the way, and Julie often talked about this time, not least because her daughter, Rebecca was born during this period, in 1977, in Inverness. Julie would walk Rebecca out in her pram along remote forest tracks, often to the surprise of hikers who thought they’d gone way beyond the bounds of civilisation and would suddenly come upon a mum pushing a pram!
By the time Rebecca was two, Julie returned to Dover as she and Nick parted. She lived in a hostel run by nuns to begin with and then moved to a flat in Napier Road. From there, she was allocated the house in Napier Road that remained her home for many years. She loved living there, with fantastic views looking out over Dover.
In 1985, Julie met Steve at a party. Steve was living in Folkestone at the time but later moved in with Julie and Rebecca. They made a strong and lasting partnership and I’m sure Steve may say a little more about his life with Julie in a moment.
In the 1990s, Julie worked for Victim Support in Dover, a job that played to her strengths in many ways and Steve also became involved in working with Victim Support as a sessional trainer.
Holidays and travel were an aspect of life that Julie very much enjoyed, especially with Pam, her husband Vic and family in New Zealand. She made a number of visits there, including taking Rebecca to Julie’s nephew Lee’s wedding. Steve also visited New Zealand with Julie and, importantly, Julie was able to go to support Pam by staying with her for quite a while as Vic’s life sadly drew to its close.
Disneyland Paris was another favourite destination as was Holland where Julie’s friend Dave & Pauline went too. There was a very memorable stay in Japan in 2006 when Steve and Julie found their way around many areas of the country on the train system there. But walks in the countryside at home were also much enjoyed by Julie. She had a real love of the natural world and walking with friends locally – often for ten miles at a time, stopping for a picnic perhaps – these were happy times too.
But I don’t think there was anything that made Julie happier than the arrival of her grandchildren. Rebecca used to say to her Mum that she shouldn’t count on having grandchildren but when she started a family with her husband, also named Steve, Julie was delighted. First Isaak and then Ethan came along and Julie and Steve did a great deal with their first two grandchildren, taking them out and about and enjoying helping out with child care in their early days. And quite soon after them, Aaron and Niamh extended the family still further. Julie thoroughly enjoyed seeing each and all of them grow and develop. They will all have fond memories of time spent with their loving “Nanma” as they called her. It would always make Julie’s day to see any of them and a visit from her grandchildren would really perk Julie up, especially when she became unwell.
We needn’t dwell on the end of Julie’s life except to say that she had come through some huge health challenges earlier on and her physical strength seemed gradually to ebb away, sadly, towards the end. She was fortunate in all her family but especially in Steve and Rebecca who made sure that Julie could remain at home all along, just as she wished, with them at her side.
I’ve hardly done Julie justice in these few words. To say that she was a strong person would be an understatement, as you know, but she was also sensitive, creative and very caring. She loved to wear colourful clothes – even if Rebecca found some of them a bit “OTT” (!) – she enjoyed sunbathing. Watching the butterflies and bees in her garden; reading extensively – especially crime novels and true crime books. In her later life she would watch TV – including some reality TV that would make some of us cringe (Dr Pimple Popper, for instance!!). She loved her home as well. She was so proud of everything Steve did to make it a very special place. And, as you all know so well, her daughter, Rebecca held a special place in Julie’s heart and she would talk about her and her growing family with real pride.
Julie was also very much loved herself. And though there’s a huge gap now in all your lives, there is also a wealth of colourful memories that will be cherished.