Julie Anne Saltkill

Julie (Clay) Saltkill passed away on July 11, 2016 at home in Kenmore, Washington in the company of her best-friend and husband, Jim, after a short battle to control a brain aneurism.She was born Julie Anne Clay on December 6, 1943 in Seattle, Washington. She was the second child of Rex Clay and Millie (Jefferson) Clay, and was preceded in death by both her parents and her older brother, Dick Clay. She is survived by her younger brother, Joe Clay and by her children and grandchildren.She had an idyllic childhood. She loved her parents dearly (and even her brothers) and grew up very close to her grandparents, as well as the circle of friends in the familys Lake City neighborhood. When Joe married Patty in 1975 and Dick married Eileen in 1980, Julie and her sisters-in-law became fast friends and along with Millie formed the core of a fantastic family.Julie graduated from Ingraham High School in 1962 and began working as a teller at Bothell State Bank. She married her high school boyfriend, Colin Thomas, in March of 1964 and they bought his grandmothers house in Lake City (around the corner from her parents). They had Jeanne in 1966 and Christopher in 1969 and soon after moved to Lake Forest Park. Julie loved her kids ferociously and loved, loved, loved being a Mom. She continued to live in LFP and worked at Sears and Art Holt Associates, making life-long friends with both co-workers and customers.A few years after she and Colin divorced, Julie met Jim Saltkill thru a wrong number call and they were married exactly one year after their first date, on June 7, 1986. Upon marrying Jim, she welcomed two step-children, Holly and David into her life and heart. Julie continued working at a variety of jobs (Val-Pak, Bekins, Olsons Nordstrom) and made more and more friends along the way.While she enjoyed her career, she still considered her true calling as that of a Mother until she discovered that being Grandma trumped them all!Jeanne married Tom McDonagh in 1991 and Julie became Gma to Sarah in 1993, John in 1995 and Erin in 2000. Julie welcomed Tom and the whole McDonagh clan with open arms and the extended family he brought was a treasured addition to her the rest of her life. Chris married Lara in 1993 and since they had started dating as 16-year-olds, Julie embraced Lara her family wholly and considered all the Bergs a cherished part of her family. A new name, Grammie was coined when Clayton was born in 2000 (just weeks after Erin!) followed by Nathaniel in 2004.Holly married Michael LaPrease in 1998 and they had John-Michael in 1999 and Grace in 2002. David married Diana in 2004 and they had Julies most recent grandchild, Freya in 2011. Julie and Jim loved their stepchildren, in-laws and all grandchildren as their own. Julie was the most loving Aunt to Joe and Pattys boys Jeff and Jamie and lovingly welcomed Jeffs wife Marika, and then their daughter Madison, into the fold.After retiring from the Nordstrom Catalog call-center in 2011, she, Jim and the kitties (Coco Chanel) moved to the heat and sunshine of Goodyear, AZ. For years they had enjoyed traveling to Spring Training games and now could catch all they wanted. Luckily, for us, they always retreated back to the friendly weather in Seattle for the summers. She was always up for guests, was an over-achieving hostess and made even the newest acquaintance or shirt-tail relative feel special, welcome and well fed!Everyone who knew her would agree that Julie was kind, giving, fun, generous, thoughtful, open, and supremely loving. She excelled as a Grandma and couldnt have been better as a mother-in-law. She loved cooking, baking and entertaining. She loved the Mariners, Starbucks, Nordstrom and Seattle - almost as much as her family. She was a whiz at cards, enjoyed golf, loved her kitties, enjoyed her manis and pedis (especially with Jim) and was always up to share a bottle of wine or a cup of coffee. She enjoyed traveling and spending time with her family and was lucky enough to have been doing that right up until the weeks before she passed.She will be missed terribly by her family and friends but we are all grateful that she was in our lives and added so much to them. She was happy, fun and had no time for grouches or guilt and when we think of her, its always with a smile. So please, laugh and smile when you remember Julie and let the memories bring lightness to your day and heartits the only way shed hear of it!Please join us for a party celebrating Julie at Bothell United Methodist Church, 18515 92nd Ave NE, Bothell at 3:00 pm on Friday, July 22. In lieu of flowers a donation can be made to Sacred Heart Shelters or, if you prefer, a charity that is special to you.If you have any pictures youd like to share during the celebration please email them to Joe Clay at href=mailto:[email protected] [email protected]