Worcester – Julie Lynn Rundlett, of Worcester, Massachusetts, passed away November 1, 2023. Julie was born on December 9, 1961, to Joan and Walter Rundlett in Marlborough.
Julie was the baby of the family, even at 61, and typified the Rundlett spirit—a proprietary blend of warmth and weirdness. The family moved to Hudson where Julie went to Hudson High School and then later attended the Worcester Art Museum School.
Julie made everyone around her feel loved. Sometimes smothered by love, sometimes exasperated by love — but always unambiguously loved.
Julie had famously bad luck with cars, a few complicated boyfriends, and an unfair tally of miscellaneous medical diagnoses. The world dealt her a hand that would have turned a lesser person mean and bitter. But instead, Julie always greeted life with a hug and a kiss.
Not only was Julie born with an extra set of baby teeth (strange and befitting of her youthful spirit)—but she also came into this world with a preternatural dose of empathy. She was a natural caretaker and listener. Julie loved her family, her friends, her neighbors in Worcester, her artist community, and frankly almost everyone she ever met.
Her love for the world didn’t stop at the people around her but extended to the entire animal kingdom and occasionally to inanimate objects. At Camp Wulamat— her favorite place on earth and the family’s treasured vacation spot of 60+ years—she once spied that a neighboring cabin had gathered frogs to use as fishing bait, so she covertly set them free. Outside a Cumberland Farms in Worcester, she gallantly rescued yesterday’s newspaper from a dumpster to prove a point about recycling, (and broke her arm in the process.)
Julie had art in her soul, and creativity spilled out of her at every turn. Wherever she went, she left a trail of little notes, written in her signature loopy left-handed script and accompanied by sketches of tiny creatures or aliens.
She was active in the Worcester Arts community, working in her art studio on projects in many mediums. Some of her memorable works included a coat dripping with hundreds of foraged buttons, a custom Trailer-Trash Grunge Barbie, and an extraordinary replica of a dancing boy puppet that became a cherished gift. She was also a talented framer, a skill which is inherently about lifting up and dignifying others’ artwork.
She had a deeply playful spirit. She was untethered to societal norms, the expectation that you should wear a bra, or to the concept of the market economy. She never really had any money, mostly because if she did she would give it away to someone in need. Her family hopes that you will honor her memory by giving something to someone you care about— be it a little treasure, a warm note, or the sloppiest hug you can muster.
Julie is predeceased in death by her brothers Mark and Scott and her nephew Michael. She is survived by her parents Joan and Walter Rundlett, sisters Debbie Rundlett and Lisa Rundlett Groux, sisters-in-law Theresa Rundlett and Karen Rundlett, niece Christine Rundlett Scott and her husband Doug, Margaux Groux and her husband Scott Middleton, Bill Rundlett, Maddie Rundlett and great niece Amelia Scott and great nephews Noah and Ethan Scott. Julie is also survived by her dear and compassionate friend Alice and her frisky cat Scooter.
A private celebration of Julie’s life will take place at a future date.
