Julie Mary Van Dyke

August 28, 1948 - August 14, 2021

Julie Mary Van Dyke passed away August 14, 2021, at the age of 72. She was born August 28, 1948, in Piti, Guam to Francisco and Rita Alig. She was the oldest child in a family of 10 children (six girls and four boys). Shortly after she was born, her father began serving in the United States Navy in Guam. She spent the first part of her childhood growing up in Guam and a couple years growing up in Japan, while her father was stationed there. She was 10 years old when her father decided to relocate his family from Guam to Southern California, while he continued to serve in the U.S. Navy. Julie made this incredibly long journey relocating from the island of Guam to southern California on board a U.S. military cargo ship with her mother Rita and five siblings: Ambie, Ben, Rose, Frank, and Mary. During this journey, Julie, her mom, and her five siblings became so seasick and unable to eat, that the Navy ship had to stop in Hawaii, to care for and house them, until they were able to complete their journey by military cargo plane, to the U.S. naval base in San Diego, CA.

Julie graduated from Pacifica High School in 1967 and began working at the U.S. Naval base in Los Alamitos, CA, where she met Eric Meyer, a handsome U.S. Navy sailor. They married in 1970 and had three daughters, Yvonne, Kelly, and Misty. She later remarried in 1984 and then relocated to Tennessee with her husband Bart Van Dyke, where she spent the remainder of her life. She was married to Bart for 36 years.

Julie had a very strong work ethic and worked very hard her whole life. She held many different types of jobs. One job she was very good at was working as a job coach, where she mentored and coached disabled adults and special needs children. She always went out of her way to show them love and kindness and would make them special homemade goodies for their birthdays and holidays. She had a special bond with her clients. In another season of her life, Julie spent time working with her husband Bart as a wife-and-husband truck driving team. She completed a truck-driver training program and immediately began driving an 18-wheeler semi-truck across the United States, making long haul deliveries. The last job Julie held was at a retail store called Bargain Hunt, located in Murfreesboro, TN. This was a job she was dedicated to and had fun with. She loved shopping at this retail store and was always buying bargain hunt things to give away to family, even when they didn’t need them. She loved to give gifts to her children and grandchildren and would say, “when I’m gone, you’ll look around your place and see me”. She was still employed with Bargain Hunt when she passed away from Covid.

Julie cherished the time she spent with her large family, and she especially cherished spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She looked forward to attending family events, such as weddings, birthday parties, baby showers, and graduations. She loved to attend the yearly family Novena, a Guamanian celebration that her parents started. She was well known for making the best lemon meringue pie, lumpia, rosketti, and beautiful handmade leis made of money and candy for special celebrations, like graduations and weddings. She enjoyed riding with her husband Bart, on the back of their Harley Davidson Motorcycle. She spent many years riding the back roads of Tennessee, along with her family and friends, in their motorcycle riding group. She especially loved to go for a ride to stop by and visit family. She also enjoyed going to the beach whenever she had the chance. One of her favorite beach spots was Destin, Florida. Julie had many cats she cared for throughout her life. Her last two cats were Siamese rescue cats named Kris and Nikki. They were both very special to her.

One sweet memory of Julie that will always be cherished is her text messaging style. Her text messages were the BEST!! They were hilarious and a mystery, with short, abbreviated, incomplete sentences, and unknown words. Sometimes you couldn’t understand a thing and had no idea what they meant! It was fun and a bright spot in your day when you got to text with her. She made you laugh and smile, with her crazy texting, even though she didn’t mean to.

Julie- “Because of you, our lives are better. Your memory will be kept in our hearts forever. You are loved more than words can say. You are missed each and every day.”

Julie leaves behind her three daughters and sons-in-law, Yvonne Amaral (Terry), Kelly Diggle (Andrew), Misty Meyer, and nine grandchildren and their spouses; Sean Berry, Kevin Berry, Brenden Berry, Julia Adams, Austin Diggle, Amber Chaffin (Chaz), Kyra Nash (Chandler), CJ Pewitt (Megan), Drew Pewitt, and two great grandchildren; Ellie Nash and Charlotte Chaffin, and four sisters and their spouses; Rose Tinker (Randy), Rita Tenorio (Dave), Lilly Foote’ (Mike), Evelyn Hayes (Buddy), and three brothers and their spouses; Ben Alig (Lynn), Frank Alig, Joe Alig, and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.

Julie was preceded in death by her parents Francisco and Rita Alig, brother Ambie Alig, sister Mary Alig, and husband Bart Van Dyke.

A celebration of life for Julie will be Saturday afternoon November 5, 2022, beginning at Two O'clock with visitation one hour prior to the celebration at Roselawn Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, in Murfreesboro, TN, where Julie will be buried.