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JULIE
PARRISH'S
The
memorial service for Julie Parrish was held on Saturday, October 25
2003 at the The Memorial Service was beautiful. It started with Elvis' song, "Amazing Grace" , lasted 2.5 hours and about 150 people were there including Hollywood friends, members of Elvis fan clubs, people Julie had simply 'touched' and her family. Some of her Hollywood friends that spoke were director Corey Allen (from "Rebel Without a Cause), comedian Ronnie Schell and actress Barbara Luna. Anne Helm of 'Follow that Dream' was there, Sandy Martindale (who dated Elvis in the 60's before she married Wink Martindale), Ed Bonja (official Elvis photographer) and other actors and actresses. Mostly it was her very special friends who spoke so lovingly of Julie. She was blessed with several close friends who were more like 'sisters' to her and she to them. They told funny, warm stories of her, going back many decades, bringing both laughter and tears. A few of her family members spoke and her long-time boyfriend of several years ago, Joel Wachbrit. The woman minister, who was part of the special group of 'sisters' spoke lovingly about Julie and also sang. Much of the talk was of Julie's giving heart and her efforts on behalf of the battered women's shelter to which she devoted so much time and energy. Julie was genuinely one of the people who make the world a better place. Larry was full of praise for Joan and Paul Gansky who helped to organise the Memorial Service and made sure that Elvis mementoes were prominently included in the display. A final comment is a quotation from Larry, "Sid, I've known Julie for many years, ever since "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" and we had become great friends. She was very close to my family, and living in the area, we spoke on the phone and always stayed in touch with each other. Although I knew she had battled cancer twice, I was unprepared for the suddenness of her passing. I keep seeing her beautiful, sweet face, and I find it so hard to believe she's gone." Since the Memorial Service we have heard from the webmaster for Julie's website. His name is Stan Holcomb and he knew Julie for six years and has kindly provided a nice anecdote about how he became involved with Julie's website and the only meeting he had with her in New York in 2000. To read this cute story click on "Julie, Stan and Halloween". A
nice tribute to Julie can be found on the "Elvis' Women"
website as
well as a mass of information on the women in Elvis' movies.
It was Julie Parrish that inspired Greg Altenberger
to make this very professional website and Julie helped
Greg track down many more
actresses who were co-stars in Elvis' movies. In tribute to Julie,
Greg says, "her outlook on life always inspired me, she was very serious
about not being very serious. She was a very funny and a very classy
lady!"
Those of you who are near Julie's hometown, Tecumseh, MI, will be interested to know that a memorial will be held for her there : November 8th, 2003, 2pm-5 pm, Masonic Temple, 700 Bishop Reed Drive, Tecumseh, Michigan. In lieu of
flowers, the family is asking that donations be made to the cause of aiding
abused women and their children. If you care to send a card to
the family, please address it to: I
have just returned from Los Angeles where I met her close friends Joan
and Paul Gansky. They have produced a giant recent photo of Julie which is
beautiful and shows those warm, mischievous, wonderful, sparkling eyes and was the central feature for the memorial service. Paul had driven Julie to the
doctor as she was feeling ill, but she collapsed as they arrived and her last
words to Paul were “this is scary”. The ambulance arrived in just two
minutes but she was dead on arrival at the nearby hospital. They have not
released the autopsy report, as yet. In my correspondence with Julie, her dream was to visit England again
and trace her ancestry but sadly that dream was never fulfilled. In Julie’s memory you can bid for remaining photos Julie Parrish signed and sent to me. The minimum bid is £50.00 each and ALL proceeds will go to the Lynda Jackson MacMillan Centre here in England, while Elvisly Yours books and magazines have been given to various Elvis Fan Clubs in Los Angeles to auction for charities in LA for battered wives and their children. Send bids for signed photos of Julie Parrish to : sid@elvisly-yours.com Archive news: Julie Parrish Dies
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