Julie Marie Thorpe (1930-2026)

Sister Julie Marie Thorpe, SNDdeN went home to her good God on March 6, 2026. An SNDdeN for 74 years, she was 95.

The daughter of Winthrop and Mary Evelyn Thorpe, Sister Julie Marie attended Notre Dame High School in Belmont, California. After high school, she enrolled in San Jose State University, where she recalled thoroughly enjoying college life. The idea of becoming a Sister was something she would consider and then ignore. However, the “Sister idea” never went away. After she graduated from San Jose State, Sister Julie Marie entered the novitiate at Saratoga, California, on the hottest day of the year, donned a black habit and thought, “I’m here, and I’m staying.”

And stay she did—for over 70 years. For the first 10 years, Sister Julie Marie happily taught elementary school classes, including five years at Notre Dame School in Belmont, then a College of Notre Dame demonstration school.

In 1964, she became principal for the first time at Notre Dame Elementary School in Chico. Sister Julie Marie said that she loved the experience and the families in Chico, and remembered that tuition was sometimes paid in produce and dairy products!

Sister Julie Marie also enjoyed five years as the Director of Postulants and Novice Director, then served at several schools, eventually as principal at Notre Dame Elementary School in San Francisco for nine years.

While Principal of Notre Dame School, Chico in 1967, Sister Julie Marie Thorpe, SNDdeN accepted a flag flown over the White House that was awarded by the American Legion.

Sister Julie Marie considered her time in San Francisco a “career high” when, as principal of the girls’ school, with Sister Noreen Cain, who was principal of the boys’ school, they successfully combined the two K-8th-grade schools into one.

She also found her time there to be a great way to fulfill a call to work with the poor. The disadvantaged have always had a place in Sister Julie Marie’s heart, and during a period of discernment, this concern later led her much further afield.

Sister Julie Marie returned to classroom teaching for six years in Santa Barbara, and spent some summer sessions teaching catechism and doing pastoral ministry in Alaska. She fell in love with the native people, so when the local bishop asked her to serve there full-time, she accepted.

Sister Julie Marie Thorpe, SNDdeN, while ministering in Alaska

For eight years, this “Californian Sister” (who has a fondness for warm, sunny weather) called Alaska home. Five of those years were spent living in remote Hooper Bay. There she trained Eucharistic ministers, assisted deacons in funerals and baptisms, provided counsel and served in a thousand different ways, including being a “first responder” after suicides and accidents.

This time with the Yup’ik people—surviving in the harsh climate and living without running water—was a life-changing experience in many ways. She shared that “the Yup’ik people have an innate sense of symbolism, a moral code of conduct, and a strong sense of family. God’s presence was very real in these beautiful people.” (She also highly recommended moose meat!)

When health issues forced Sister Julie Marie to return to the lower 48 to be closer to medical care, she joined the staff at the Notre Dame House of Prayer in Carmel, California, where she helped others on their path to spiritual renewal. During this time, she also worked at an after-school program in Pajaro, California, for children of strawberry field workers and taught English as a second language to parents.

Sister Julie Marie moved to the Province Center in Belmont, where she served as spiritual director and continued her outreach efforts as a volunteer, including tutoring at Nativity School in San Jose, calling her time there “a gift.” She said that she had received so much more from her work with those in need than she had given, and wouldn’t have changed a moment of it!

In 2023, she moved to Mercy Care and Retirement Center in Oakland.

Updated in 2026.