Julia LaRue McGrath Wardell

Our beloved Jewels passed peacefully at home to the loving and everlasting presence of her heavenly father, husband, daughter, mother and father, brother, and other family and friends during the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, July 23, 2020.

Julie was born July 9, 1939, the oldest of two children, to George T. and Carol (n. Hepworth) McGrath in Salt Lake City, Utah. After the tragic loss of her mother at a young age, her father married LuDean Adamson who cared for Julie and raised her as her own. She attended South High School in Salt Lake City, graduating in 1958, and in 1960, began a great and lifelong adventure by traveling solo to Boston, Massachusetts to marry Weldon Wardell, a sailor in the United States Navy, her eternal companion and father of her children.

Julie was the consummate military wife and mother of five children, enduring hardships and sacrifices that are difficult to describe to those who have not experienced the lifestyle necessary to raise a family and nurture children in those circumstances. As the wife of a man who dedicated himself to the security and defense of his fellow countrymen, she endured and sacrificed for love, as she could never be paid enough.

Julie was a lifelong and faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and held numerous and various callings in wards and branches across and on both coasts of the Continental United States and in Hawaii, solemnizing her marriage in the Temple in Laie on the Island of Oahu in 1967. Julie has been a member of the Garden Heights South Ward in the Wilford Stake since 1976 when Weldon (and Julie!) retired from the Navy, bringing the family home.

Julie is preceded by her mother and father, youngest brother (Tom) and youngest daughter (Jessica), husband Weldon, and survived by her other mother (LuDean), brothers Mike and David, sister Diane, and children Shane (Cindy) Wardell, Christopher (Wendy) Wardell, Anita (Jason) Watts, Daniel (Shannon) Wardell, 18 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.

Friends and family are invited to visit Tuesday evening, July 28, 6:00-8:00pm at Holbrook Mortuary, 3251 South 2300 East, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Family will gather for a funeral service Wednesday, July 29, 11:00am at Holbrook Mortuary, with a family gathering one hour prior to the funeral.

For extended family and friends the funeral services will be live-streamed, at HolbrookMortuary.com. To watch the services go to Julia’s obituary page at HolbrookMortuary.com, scroll to the bottom of the page, and below her obituary will be a link to view the services. The services will be available to watch online for 90 days.  

For those attending the visitations or funeral services please remember to wear a mask and social distance.

Following the funeral the interment will take place at the Utah Veterans Memorial Park.

Condolences may be posted for the family on Julia’s obituary page at HolbrookMortuary.com