Julie Ann Howell-Tracy
June 06, 1968 ~April 25, 2025
Julie Ann Howell-Tracy June 6, 1968 – April 22, 2025 Julie Ann Howell-Tracy of Magnolia, Ohio, was born in Massillon, Ohio to Graylon Shelt and Beverly McFarren. Julie graduated from Fairless High School in Navarre in 1985 and continued her education with a Paralegal degree from Walsh college. She started and ran the Julie Howell Insurance agency for 10 years until she sold it to pursue a more rewarding career. She transitioned into the Loving Choice adoption Agency as the Adoption Coordinator. She was a supportive champion of birth moms and understood the challenges they faced. With every child placed, and the joy it brought the adoptive family, the value of her career change was validated. She was devastated when the Loving Choice program came to an end. Once again, she was faced with another career decision and refused to take a job based purely on financial gain. She interviewed for a position as Activities Coordinator at Atwood Lake Campground for the summer. After being told she was overqualified, they hired her anyway! This position turned into another dream job where she became part of the Atwood Family. Obituaries such as this begin with the year that you were born and the year that you die but that is not important, it is the dash in between that defined Julie. It is not a dash, but instead an exclamation point in her case! She lived life spontaneously, lovingly, and most importantly, her way! If you are wondering if you may have ever met her, you didn’t because you WOULD remember. For those of you that did meet her, we apologize, as we’re sure she probably offended you. She did not hold back from telling it like it was! She was not one to sugar coat the truth. If you ever wanted to debate, Julie was ready and had an opinion, just be prepared with facts and be ready to back them up. Inevitably, the argument would become heated as she convinced you she was right! If you needed a friend, or were in trouble, you remember she helped. If you needed someone to listen, she would be there. If you needed her to be there for you, she would drop everything at a moment’s notice and show up. There was no better friend than Julie. Julie was an avid antique collector who loved going with her sister Jill to find the next greatest treasure. She was neither concerned with the size nor the price of the item if it caught her eye. Imagine the conversation between them as they debated if a large primitive table chair would fit into Julie’s BMW! Turns out it did, just as Julie insisted it would! As she pulled her husband into this endeavor, he found out she also did not bother to look where the auction house was. Hence, an emergency trip to Philadelphia and then on to Cape Cod at the end of the pandemic to pick up items that could not be shipped. Even after this experience, he would catch her bidding on another auction and ask where it was located, to which she always responded with “I’m not sure”! Julie waited 19 years and her husband waited 15 years to find each other for their second marriage that would prove to be extremely complementary. Each one’s strengths complemented the other’s weaknesses. Our blended family continues and this trend has truly become one family which proves the wait was definitely worth it. Julie’s will and efforts to make sure all were invited, welcome, cajoled, and included in every Holiday and family event resulted in a very close knit family that will support each other through her passing and beyond. Kraus’ Pizza, J Alexander’s, Ebay, Antique Auctions, and luggage stores are bracing for a slowdown with the news of the passing of a loyal supporter. If asked (or not) on where you wanted to eat, Julie would always recommend that we go for a great steak and loaded baked potato with extra sour cream at J. Alexander’s. She always insisted that chocolate lava cake would be shared regardless of how full you felt. “No,” was not an option, she ordered it anyways! Julie was a world-renowned traveler and willing to go at a moment’s notice. If asked to go somewhere, the answer was always, “YES,” before any details were shared! Although she was not an avid football fan, she had a long running streak of attending an annual Super Bowl party in Las Vegas. When she became engaged in 2019, the only logical choice would be that the marriage would take place in Las Vegas. With her love of numbers, the date would be 2-2-2020 and be held at 2:22 the day of the Superbowl. She knew the NFL would not delay the SuperBowl so the only choice was 2:22AM, not PM. Her family and friends enthusiastically embraced this and showed up in great numbers. She had a great passion for trips from a day trip to a 2-week cruise. She was always ready to be on the move but always glad to return home to her family, her home and her cats, usually with a brand-new additional suitcase filled with treasures and Christmas presents. She also loved giving trips to our children and their families. They got to pick where they wanted to go that year as a Christmas present. She enjoyed the quality time with them and cherished the memories that came from them. One of the most special trips was our family trip to Disney driving in a 12 person passenger van all the way to Florida. It was our version of the Family Vacation movie, minus Aunt Edna. She spent her life collecting, collaborating, exploring, and documenting what her dream house would consist of. The result was 2 full thick binders with pictures, drawings, ideas, and dreams that she turned into reality to create a family resort with her own waterfall and decorated with all of her accumulated treasures that even included chandeliers in her closet. She enjoyed nothing more than providing tours for friends and strangers alike. She even created an “apartment” above the garage for grandkids and guests to stay and visit. Her husband enjoyed watching and listening to all of the contractors and potential builders that were interviewed as Julie was told over and over that what she wanted was not possible. She proved it was possible! Julie was a lifelong animal lover and was always ready to save an animal in trouble. Her vehicles were all equipped with first aid kits for animals. She fed apples to the Amish horses as they were tied up waiting for their owners to return. She rescued every cat she possibly could, resulting in several cat-over-capacity situations throughout the years. All cats seemed to have a sixth sense that if they were hungry or in trouble to show up on her porch. She constantly slowed down and yelled at deer or racoons “Stay off the Road” when she saw them at the edge. Her lottery ticket ambitions included creating and funding an animal rescue shelter. In lieu of flowers, Julie requests that donations be made to “Angels for Animals Veterinary Service & Shelter, 330-549-1111, 4750 West South Range Rd Canfield, OH 44406. www.angelsforanimals.org She would like to remind her friends, “Please don’t email me – I’m dead.” Julie intended on writing this obituary. She had an entire folder of “Example” obituaries and this was on her final to do list. Unfortunately, we originally thought she ran out of time and did not get to it. However, as we worked on this, we realized that she knew the family could do a much better job than she could and would help with her never-ending goal of bringing her family closer together. The obituary folder she provided was just her way of guiding us! She always had a plan, she just was never good at sharing it with others! As we went through her folder of obituaries, we came across one that she had printed out. It was written by a cancer patient that had written her own obituary. We believe that Julie wanted this included because it really addresses her spirit, love of debate, and always looking for a different meaning. “I never want my death due to cancer to be discussed in the style of ‘she lost her battle’ or ‘after a long and valiant fight’ or other similar language. Cancer isn’t an invader like a foreign virus or bacterium. Cancer is my own body’s DNA gone haywire. Who am I fighting against? My own body? Or maybe my body is a battlefield, in which case who is the enemy? And now that I have died due to cancer does this mean I didn’t fight hard enough or lacked the will to live? Of course not! Julie was preceded in death by her father Graylon Shelt, stepfather Wayne McFarren, father-in-law James Tracy. She is survived by her mother Beverly McFarren, mother-in-law Dorothy Tracy, sister Jill Price, husband Ted Tracy, children Nicole Mercer, Corey Heckathorn, Steven Heckathorn, Austin Tracy, Brooke Tracy, Daughter-in-law Rachel Wilson, Dianne Bartels, Son-in-law Jay Jones, Derek Sciulli, grandchildren Kelsie Mercer, Kayden Mercer, Kingston Mercer, Lilah Heckathorn, nephew Michael Price, great niece Lexi Price, great nephew Kash Price, Sister-in-laws Karen Stazak, Kristina Cassidy, Brother-in-laws Ted Stazak, Matt Cassidy, stepbrothers Scott (Brb) McFarren, Cullten Mc Farren, stepsister Jetta Orr. She is also survived by her six cats, Hope, Charlie, Paris, Mooch, Sassy, and Rufus who provided hours and hours of comfort and support for her. She was a loving Mother, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Grandmother and friend that we all loved. She will be dearly missed, never forgotten, and live on in the memories that she created for all of us. Calling hours will be held from 9AM to 11AM, May 17, 2025 followed by a Celebration of Julie’s life at 11 in Lantzer Funeral Home, 230 Second Ave, S.E. Beach City, OH. All are welcome to bring stories, pictures, and memories to share.