This from the Strib, Friday June 9, 1996

Saying goodbye to a friend, an adventurer 
Carleton colleagues celebrate life of slain hiker 	
By James Walsh
Star Tribune Staff Writer

"When I have moved beyond 
you in the adventure of life 
Gather in some pleasant place 
and there remember me 
with spoken words old and new. 

-- from "Instructions" author anonymous 	


NORTHFIELD, MINN. -- They gathered in the dark Skinner Memorial Chapel at
Carleton College -- surrounded by dark oak and dark granite and diffused
daylight peeping through stained-glass windows -- to celebrate a life of
light. 

They gathered to celebrate the life of Julianne Williams, the St. Cloud
woman and 1994 Carleton graduate killed with a companion while hiking in
Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. And they remembered her. 

They were former teachers, former classmates, former coworkers who spoke
the praises of a 24 year-old woman who filled her life helping others and
pursuing knowledge before she was slain. And the Rev. Jewelnel Davis,
Carleton's chaplain, read from "Instructions" a reading that seemed as
though it was written by Williams herself: 

"Let a tear fall if you'll will 
but let a smile come quickly
 for I loved loved the laughter of life." 

	At the front of the chapel stood a collage of snapshots taped to
sheets of cardboard. "Julie"-- in construction-paper letters of orange
blue, white and pink -- was taped above the photos. 

The captions written in ink, read: "Julie at the mouth of the Columbia
River." And "Maria, Julie, Big Bend National Park, TX." There were photos
of Williams In Florence, Italy and Seattle. Photos of her in Prague,
Mexico, Vermont and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. 

On Saturday the bodies of Williams and Lollie Winans, 26, were found at a
campsite in the Virginia park. Their throats had been cut. 

But while the tears fell Thursday, mourning Williams' death, those at the
service shared smiles gleaned from remembering her life. 

A graduate of Cathedral High School in St. Cloud, where she helped win the
1989 state Class A doubles tennis championship, Williams went on to
Carleton. She excelled in her geology studies, winning departmental awards
and graduating cum laude. She also traveled and did volunteer work,
including working for Habitat for Humanity to help build houses for
low-income people. She led expeditions into wilderness areas, and she
organized sledding trips down Northfield hills with local Latino kids. 

She was an extremely bright student, always questioning, always seeking
out more knowledge and new experiences, her teachers recalled. "Julie was
a wonderful role model," said Mary Savina, a geology professor who thought
of Williams as a friend. "Wherever Julie had choices, she chose the path
that valued people." 

Ed Buchwald, another Carleton geology professor, brought a canoe paddle
and his favorite hat to help remember Williams. "This is the hat I wear in
the Boundary Waters," he said, putting on the floppy green hat. "She said,
'Do you know how stupid you look?' Julie, you can tease me all you want." 

"Do not linger too long with your solemnities go eat and drink and talk
and when you can -- follow a woodland trail
climb a high mountain 
sleep beneath the stars 
swim in a cold river
chew the thoughts of some book which challenges you soul  
use your hands some bright day
to make a thing of beauty
or to lift someone's heavy load."_

Remembering Williams helped many of the 75 or so people at the memorial
service ease their grief for a while. There was laughter among the tears.
Organizers hope it helps Williams' family as well. Family members were not
there, but they sent their message of hope. And a videotape of the service
will be sent to them. The funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m today at St.
Paul's Catholic Church in St. Cloud. |

The crowd laughed when Savina read from a letter Williams wrote to her:
"Working In a basement of a mall is something that I'm not cut out for." 

And they smiled, knowingly, when Williams' friend Maria Panfil read from a
letter she had received from Williams, expressing her frustration in
finding a job that encompassed her many and varied interests. "I'm going
to have to blaze my own trail in order to do the things I want," she
wrote. 

And, as Davis in the end asked them to bow their heads, they prayed. "Oh,
God of mercy; oh, God that is giving, we come at this time to celebrate
the life of Julie Williams. We pray for her spirit, we give thanks for the
way she blessed us in life, the way she blessed this community, our lives
and the world. We pray for her peace," Davis asked. 

"Rest in peace, Julie. Rest in peace." 

 "Copyright 1996 Star Tribune.  Reprinted with permission of the Star
Tribune. Further redistribution or republication is prohibited without the
written permission of the Star Tribune."