Julie Hines O’Hara
Julie Hines O’Hara (August 22, 1959 – September 24, 2019) passed peacefully with the names of friends and family whispered in her ear after a hellish, brief and fearless fight against cancer, which struck her without warning July 30th. She leaves an indelible mark on all who knew and loved her.
Beloved daughter of Norman and Barbara Hines of Sioux Falls, SD, adored sister of Sally and Mary, cherished wife of Michael, treasured aunt and grand-aunt, Julie also leaves behind countless friends who loved and were loved by the unique force-of-nature that she was. She had a heart of gold, along with a wickedly wry and sardonic sense of humor. Those closest to her knew she possessed an unrivaled “look-you-in-the-eye-and-tell-you-where-to-get-off” attitude, a proud element of her Swedish-Norwegian-Irish heritage.
A great testament to Julie’s million-dollar personality is that wherever she lived in this country, from Sioux Falls to Montana, to Washington D.C. and finally to Seattle, Julie made lifelong friends – and nicknames: The Gauer, The Gau, Hiney-Head, Ju-ju, Uji, Ooj, LFJ, The Great Oojini, Cub, Cubbie and Mrs. Cubbison.
Family and friends were asked to come up with adjectives to describe her: Gregarious, thoughtful, tenacious, witty, genuine, effervescent, sunny, determined, devoted, hilarious, dynamic, vivacious, unsinkable . . . but the two words most often used were: Fun and Kind. You could not be around Julie without laughter nearby. Her laugh — head thrown back and tilted to the sky, all teeth on display — filled any room. Even if it were the worst joke in the world . . . even if it were her own worst joke, it would get a roaring laugh out of Uji.
Her legendary kindness was most obvious when it came to rescuing animals and homeless pets. Julie literally never met a critter she didn’t like. A devoted rescuer of dogs and cats throughout her life, there were always at least two rescued pets at her side. She was a wonderful and talented seamstress. For 20 years, she purchased hundreds of yards of fleece and fabric to sew dog coats. These beautiful custom coats were donated every year to animal shelters and rescue organizations. Every pooch owned by a friend got their coats as well.
Born in Sioux Falls, Julie was a 1977 graduate of Lincoln High School and went on to receive her BA in 
Criminal Justice from Montana State University in 1981. As would be the case in other arenas throughout her life, friends from high school like Julie P and Jill would be her buddies for the rest of her days. They would laugh when Julie told them stories from Bozeman, such as once when she took a spill moonlighting as a runway model — in that fashion capital of the world. In full bustier and feather boa, Julie tripped in her high heels, fell off the runway, and shattered 12 bones in her foot and ankle. No doctor was immediately available, so Julie was treated by the local veterinarian. The vet never forgot the experience either.
Soon after, she worked at a women’s prison, where she learned to not take any guff while maintaining a great empathy for those women who were incarcerated. Also around that time she put to use her former cheerleading skills. She landed the unlikely job of directing aircraft and ground traffic parking on a tarmac in Montana. There she enjoyed telling hotshot pilots where they could park it if they disagreed with her directives, including “Where the sun don’t shine, Mister.”
In A Midsummer-Night’s Dream, Shakespeare wrote, “Though she be but little, she is fierce.” While it may have applied to Hermia centuries ago, it applied equally to Julie. She was little and fierce and she never backed down when she saw a wrong.
Working for a Washington, D.C. real estate developer in the ‘80s, Julie honed her business skills. There she made some wonderful forever friends. Despite Julie’s move from D.C. to Seattle in 1989 (a move made with two giant rescue dogs in the back seat of a 1983 Charger), Jackie, Laurie, Patty and Rosemary would remain close to her for life, and would be there for her not only until the very end, but beyond.
A week after moving to Washington state, Julie met Michael, who fell in love with her the moment they met. All-Star personality, knockout looks, laughed at his jokes . . . for him it was a no-brainer. It took Julie a little longer to warm up to him, however. A proud Leo, she had to think about it for a while and maybe find out if he could cook. Thus, it would be another 10 days before they finally moved in together. Together they would be for the next 30 years, side-by-side and inseparable.
Julie soon was hired at Microsoft and began a career that would last there, in one role or another, until the end of her life. She made great friends throughout the company, but her first love would always be the buddies she adored in the Latin America Operations Center (LOC). Julie was never more happy or proud than she was while working in that group. There are many more, but she never forgot or will be forgotten by: Millie, Betina, Jim, Jon, Pam, Tom, Andrey, Toni, Jill, Santiago, Ron, Guillermo, Francisco, Andy, Cesar, Juan Luis, Teresa, Mauricio…
In one memorable interview for another Microsoft role, Julie was asked the standard interview question, for which she had not prepared.
“Why should I hire you?”
Julie thought long and hard about the question, for nearly a second.
“Because I’m fun!” she said.
Yes, she got the job with that impressive answer. Her friend, Millie, then gave her a copy of Job Interviews for Dummies as a reward.
Without any formal training, Julie (along with her sisters) had an outstanding singing voice and was never 
shy about using it. She was a lover of show tunes and could sing every lyric from countless musicals, from Camelot to Cat Ballou, to West Side Story and Grease. She knew every Monkees’ song, every song from every ‘60s and ‘70s teen idol, and for many years was convinced that the Bobby Sherman hit, “Julie, Julie, Julie, Do You Love Me?” was written just for her.
She was a playful prankster who laughed out loud and loudly throughout her all-too-brief life. She could take a joke and dish one out. One of her favorite things was asking those who most closely loved her, “Umm, could you answer a question for me: WHY AM I SO CUTE? HAHAHA!”
You were, dearest Julie, as she put it, “Ultimate Cuteness!” — kind to everyone and so very loved by all. It is in mentioning her final act of kindness that her loved ones shall bid goodbye to this wonderful woman…until we meet again, Cub. While cancer took from her so much, it did not take her corneas, which Julie donated to give the gift of sight to two people.
There will be a Celebration of Julie’s Life and get-together in Kirkland October 26. Please follow link to Evite.
