Julianne Bethke June 4, 1942 – October 30, 2015

The family is planning a Celebration of Life event to include family and friends later this winter. On-line condolences at www.HabingFamilyFuneralHome.com.
 Julianne Bethke, 73, of Gilroy, CA, passed away at her home on October 30, 2015, after a four-year battle with lung cancer.
 She is survived by Joel Bethke, her husband of 38 years, who supported her through an onerous battle with the most common form of lung cancer to afflict women.
 She is survived by her daughter, Heidi Luttjohann Hanlon, a registered nurse who also worked tirelessly to help her mother defy the survival odds of a virulent disease.
 She is further survived by her son, Sean Luttjohann, of San Francisco. Other surviving immediate family members include two grandsons, Blake Luttjohann and Ronan Hanlon, both located in the Bay Area; Sean Hanlon, her son-in-law; her younger brother, Brent Green, and sister-in-law, Becky Green, of Denver, CO; her daughter-in-law, Patty LeDay, and husband, Jon Howell of Santa Cruz; and many extended family members.
 Heather Luttjohann, her youngest daughter, preceded Julie in death following a tragic automobile accident. Two of Julie’s dearest friends–Judy Wood of Pittsburg, PA, and Sam Tedesco of San Francisco–also died within the last year from cancer.
 Julie was born on June 4, 1942, in Topeka, KS, daughter of Lucille and Gilbert Green, who preceded her in death.
 She attended Topeka High School where she distinguished herself as a popular cheerleader and frequent dramatic lead in theatrical plays staged by the school’s critically acclaimed drama department. Although she never became a professional actress, she was beloved for her dramatic flair, her gregariousness, and her entertaining demeanor. She also studied at the University of Kansas with emphasis on the dramatic arts.
 Julie’s career included several years working in social services and more than fifteen years as a self-employed aesthetician, where she served a wide network of clients who appreciated this beautiful woman’s skills at restoring facial beauty, both externally and internally. Because of her personal commitment to serving others, late in life Julie successfully studied to become an emergency medical technician.
 Julie is perhaps most appreciated for her avocational work as an event and meeting planner, supporting annual sales incentive programs for Sequoia Insurance Company. She notably created immersive experiences that transformed ordinary hotel ballrooms into themed events such as the set from Phantom of the Opera or a Middle Eastern bazaar.
 Julie spent more than two decades riding cutting horses and participating with Joel in cutting horse competitions, a wellspring for many enduring personal friendships among “horse people” and serious rivalries with this very competitive woman.
 What distinguished Julie more than anything, was her love of deep family ties, and so the Bethke family includes many unrelated and “adopted” family members who were always valued at intimate family gatherings, including, notably, her friend Carol Kelly from Phoenix, AZ.
 Julie’s compassion for others less fortunate found expression through random acts of kindness, whether gifts of cash to homeless street people or donations to charitable organizations. Her abiding love of animals, great and small, included her five cherished cutting horses and two precocious lap dogs, Panda and Spencer Tracy.
 Honored as a memorial speaker at her 50th high school reunion several years ago, Julie concluded her speech by addressing her own eventual passing: “When my time comes to join (our departed classmates), I think I will embrace the phrase from Sojourner Truth in saying, “I am not going to die. I am going home like a shooting star.” Those who knew and loved Julie Bethke believe that this woman of many passions and high purposes did exactly that.