Julia Frances Scoville
November 1, 1921 – October 24, 2021
Julia Frances Scoville, nee Tokar, passed away peacefully of natural causes on Oct. 24, 2021 in Modesto, California, just eight days before her 100th birthday. Sto lat!
Julia was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania to Michael and Mary Tokarczyk of Jaslo, Poland. The second of five children in a Polish community, she did not speak English until she enrolled in school. As a teenager during the Great Depression, Julia got jobs as a maid in wealthier households. One of her employers encouraged her to further her education and allowed access to their library. This opened her mind to the world, to compassion for others, to peace, and to greater good.
Education/Career
Never afraid to learn, at the onset of World War II, Julia studied metallurgy and chemistry to work as a quality control specialist at a munition plant in Elgin, Illinois. There she saw a newsreel for the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps, a federal program to train nurses during wartime. Julia was hooked. She attended Saint Anthony Hospital School of Nursing in Denver, Colorado with room and board, books and supplies, three uniforms and a stipend all provided. The experience instilled in her the value and need for public health. She completed her training in 1947, moved to New York City and earned a B.S. degree from Hunter College and her R.N. license. She started her career in New York’s Bellevue Hospital before moving to Los Angeles where she became a visiting nurse on the Westside. Julia finished her R.N. career at LA County’s USC Medical Center. All along Julia took classes in Spanish, computers, and sailing/navigation to broaden her experiences and learn new skills. In LA she trained nurses at County hospital and taught Sunday School at First Unitarian Church.
Family
Julia’s cherished daughter Diane was born in NY in 1949. In 1958 she met labor activist Francis Scoville at church where they were wed. Their two children Carrie and Eric were born shortly thereafter and dedicated to the First Unitarian Church. The Scovilles lived in the Echo Park Neighborhood of LA where they made lifelong friendships with their neighbors.
Social Justice/Activism
Both Julia and Francis were active in social causes, labor and anti-war protests. In New York, Julia served as secretary to the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). In LA, she volunteered tirelessly for electoral campaigns, from John Kennedy, to Shirley Chisolm, to George McGovern and Bernie Sanders. She assisted HUD with housing discrimination in Glendale, Burbank and Torrance. She was a feminist, attending consciousness-raising groups in the early 1970s and refusing to do housework after a long day of nursing. She joined the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC) supporting female candidates for office.
Sailing
After her retirement, the Scovilles purchased the Huckleberry Frog, fulfilling Julia’s lifelong dream of sailing. They lived aboard the boat for the next fifteen years in the Sacramento Delta, Wilmington, and the Long Beach Marina. Julia encouraged women sailors to get out of the galley and take the helm. She obtained her U.S. Coast Guard Captain’s license and trained an allwoman crew, becoming the first ever to enter the prestigious Newport to Ensenada race. She joined the Westward Cruising Club in Wilmington and regularly raced to/from Catalina Island winning a locker full of trophies for the club.
Travel
A world traveler, Julia started as a young woman with a trip to Puerto Rico. Just after arriving in LA, she immediately learned how to drive, got a drivers license and drove with her daughter Diane and a friend through Mexico. She was a fearless adventurer and loved meeting people. In the 1990s she spent six months in the South Pacific crewing aboard a sailboat with her friend, then traveling independently throughout the region. She visited every continent except Antarctica. Julia was a 50year member of the Sierra Club. She loved nature, wildlife, and the outdoors.
Giving Back
Julia loved young people for whom she always had kind words and encouragement. She especially loved children and they loved her. She always had a toy, a game, a story, and a Polaroid photo. She bought toys for children she knew, for those she didn’t know, and for those not yet born. In 1996, Julia traveled to Iraq when it was under sanctions to bring teddy bears and medical supplies for the kids. Her love and care for the world’s children drew her to Global Gifts benefiting the United Nations Children’s Fund. She volunteered for years at its Long Beach and San Pedro locations.
In Long Beach, Julia joined the Grey Panthers, ultimately serving as president for two terms. She believed in their principles of activism around peace, Medicare for All, and saving and expanding Social Security.
Under her leadership, the Grey Panthers grew in membership and influence in Long Beach. She served on the Grey Panthers national board, the California Alliance for Retired Americans, and the Congress of California Seniors.
When Julia and Francis approached their 80s, they moved off the boat and into an apartment in San Pedro. In 2001, the invasion of Afghanistan began. Julia and Francis joined the Long Beach Area Peace Network’s weekly anti-war vigil on Second Street. Soon they became founding members of San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Justice which established a weekly peace vigil at First and Gaffey streets that continued until the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.
In 2004, Julia and Francis blockaded the Gaffey Street Vons store in support of the striking UFCW grocery workers. They were arrested and taken to Los Angeles Police Department Harbor Station. The protesters were dubbed the “San Pedro Nine” and honored by the ACLU and the Harry Bridges Institute.
Julia was elected to the board of the Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council in 2005, serving one term.
Her time was short due to the difference between her activist nature and the nature of governance. But her instincts were right, the participatory governance model is the future for democracy.
She continued living in San Pedro with her daughter Carrie, traveling, protesting, marching and advocating until her 99th birthday when she joined Joseph and Joan Tokar at Bethel Retirement Home in Modesto.
We love Julia deeply and her contribution to the world is great. She is preceded by her parents Mary and Michael Tokar(czyk), her sister Louise German (Tokar), her brothers John and Joseph Tokar, and her husband Francis LeRoy Scoville. She is survived by her sister Polly Nelson (Tokar); her children Diane, Carrie and Eric; Leslie Hobson (Scoville) and her children Braden and Reed Johnston; Bonnie Castillo and her daughter Manae Ross; and numerous nieces, nephews and grandchildren.
Do widzenia, Julia, fair winds and following seas.
In lieu of flowers please send contributions in her memory to San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Justice, Long Beach Gray Panthers, IFCO/Pastors for Peace, UNICEF, or your favorite organization.