Vicky Jill Julian

She died peacefully on her bed. Perhaps even in her sleep, she just laid her burden down. But really, she went out in a blaze of glory, happier than she had ever been before, full of life and super excited about lots of things. Maybe, if you reach that place, you’re done, and it’s time to hang it up and quit while you’re ahead. Looks like Vicky did just that.

This is Vicky’s brother, Brian, writing. Vicky was nearly 6 years older than me; we didn’t play much as kids, but Vicky and I really bonded when I was about 20, and since that time she was always my best friend…..for 48 years.

Vicky was born in Illinois in 1951, to our parents Rose and Chad Julian, with whom she came to California by the age of 3 or 4. She grew up in Anaheim, graduating from Anaheim High School and then UCLA. She spent a couple years in Germany when she was in her 20s. In the early 1980s, she moved to the Bay Area, and then lived continuously in San Francisco since 1983, most of that time in the inner Richmond neighborhood, close to Golden Gate Park.

Vicky died at the beginning of June 2026. She had just returned from a fabulous adventure in Costa Rica in April, then won $300 in prize money in a Scrabble tournament in May. In June, she was to be going to two music festivals, and then was to be visiting our brother Duane in LA and then flying to Paris to study French for all of July, after which she was going to visit friends in London. She and I had plans and plane tickets to go to Guatemala in the fall, to study Spanish with our friends there, which would have been our third trip there together. A high-level Scrabble player, Vicky was flying all over the country for tournaments, expanding these trips into larger vacations during which she visited our cousins in Arizona and the Midwest, or got to know her way around New Orleans or Washington, DC.

Vicky was always carefully frugal, and for many years she lived a rich life in San Francisco for very little money, greatly enjoying volunteering at the arboretum in Golden Gate Park, at the Academy of Sciences, at countless film festivals (about which she was always super excited), leading tours with San Francisco City Guides, and volunteering at the San Quentin prison with the Alternatives to Violence Project. Vicky was always excited to learn new things. She took up playing the recorder, and greatly enjoyed playing with her friends in a local recorder group. Vicky devoured countless books and was an enthusiastic member of book groups; she was a heavy user of the San Francisco library, and totally had a system for getting all the e-books she wanted on her Kindle, care of the public library, and Vicky was an enthusiastic supporter of public libraries generally!

Vicky also loved locally programmed, listener-supported public radio, and tuned in regularly to many specific programs. Her favorite station was KALW, San Francisco. Vicky was a great music lover, especially favoring folk, rock, roots music, and ethnic music from all over the world. Her tastes ranged widely, and she was super enthusiastic about a musical tour of Greece she did a couple years ago, led by one of her favorite radio music hosts. Vicky saw the Grateful Dead at least a couple hundred times, was an enthusiastic regular at the Kate Wolf Music Festival up in Mendocino County, and attended lots of other concerts locally in San Francisco and the Bay Area, especially enjoying venues like the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley.

Vicky was a great listener, compassionate and genuinely interested in others. She treasured her many close friendships, and she put the important effort into maintaining and deepening those relationships over time.

Vicky never particularly identified herself with jobs she may have held along the way. She just didn’t align with a standard occupation or profession. Instead, and especially later in life, she fully embraced her true profession--which concerned cultural enrichment, the life of the mind and the creative spirit, teaching and learning and sharing ideas and overlapping perspectives on life. Vicky was always active, brimming with interests and ideas, and she died at the height of her powers.

Vicky found success in life, and she died happy.

In the days following the November 14 memorial, Vicky's remains will be permanently placed in a small display at the San Francisco Columbarium, in the Hall of Titans, which is adjacent to the original and historic Columbarium building. Those wishing to pay their respects will always be able to visit Vicky here, in the neighborhood where she lived for many years.

In lieu of any flowers or gifts, those who wish to make any kind of donation in Vicky’s memory might consider making a gift to KALW radio in San Francisco. KALW has an easy donation portal online. Vicky would love that. Thank you!