Lynn Curtis Julius

Lynn Curtis Julius, age 73, of Maricopa, Arizona, died Saturday, March 7, 2020, at his home.  

He was born on July 1, 1946 at Mercy Hospital in Fort Dodge, Iowa, to Corbett H. Julius and Geraldine M. (Petersen) Julius of Manson, Iowa.  He was baptized into the Catholic faith as an infant and confirmed at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Manson, Iowa.  He proudly attended Manson Country School through the fifth grade, in his beloved “one-room country school house,” and eventually graduated Manson High School in 1964.  He forever saw himself as a proud Manson Eagle!  Upon graduation, Lynn enrolled at Iowa Central Community College and studied marketing.  

In November 1965, Lynn joined the Army.  In February 1967, he graduated from Officer Candidate School at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Class 5-67.  In addition to being stationed in Germany for a time, and completing jungle training in Panama, Lynn completed two tours of duty in Vietnam from January 1969 to December 1972.  He was discharged from active duty in July 1973, with the final rank of Captain.  During his service he received, among other decorations, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge, and three Bronze Stars, awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement.  His courage is exemplified in a story from a fellow soldier:

“Lynn was bigger than life. He was attached to the 1/69th Armor during Plie Morong.  One day during operations when the NVA were in heavy contact with the 2/8th, Lynn, in his tank, noticed NVA coming over a hill.  When he radioed the information to command, they told him not to engage and not to fire.  He let loose with everything he had.  Command immediately transferred him to the 2/8th.  He became one of us.”

Following his active duty service, Lynn served in the National Guard and retired as a Major in 1994.  Other than his family, he was most proud of his military service. 

On March 12, 1977, Lynn married Patty Tiernan in Manson, and they made their first home in Charles City, Iowa.  The couple was blessed with two children, Jason James and Lisa Lynn.  Lynn also had another son from a prior marriage, Mark Edward.

Following the service, Lynn worked for many years in the waterworks distribution industry.  He started out in sales with Brown Supply in Fort Dodge.  In 1982, Lynn and the family moved to Palmdale, California, where he took over as branch manager for Taylor-Jett, helping to supply waterworks infrastructure to one of the fastest growing areas in the country.  Eventually, Taylor-Jett took on other iterations, including HD Supply and National Waterworks, but Lynn remained constant, eventually working his way up to regional manager.  In 2002, with the kids grown and out of the house, Lynn and Patty packed up and left California, finding their way to Fremont, Nebraska.  Lynn took on a new role as an outside salesman, providing water meters to small towns all over eastern Nebraska, and spending a good amount of time fishing and golfing.  In 2014, Lynn finally retired, and he and Patty moved to Maricopa, Arizona, where he spent the rest of his days.

Lynn enjoyed many activities, including playing golf, watching sports, fishing, fiddling with new technology, yelling at the news on TV, and visiting with old friends.  He loved to reminisce about his hometown, telling stories about his championship Manson football teams, growing up on the farm, and raising some small-town hell as a teenager.  He often talked about his mom and dad, and the good times he and his brothers and sisters had growing up in northwest Iowa.  Spending time with his kids and grandchildren brought him much joy, especially when the little ones screamed out for their Papa.  In his final days, he loved nothing more than to lay in bed and listen to Elvis sing away the afternoon.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Patty of Maricopa, Arizona; son Jason (Carrie) Julius of San Diego, daughter Lisa Julius of Maricopa, and son Mark Julius; grandchildren Allison, Brynn and James “JJ” Julius of San Diego; grand-dog Marley of Maricopa; brothers Allan (Nancy) Julius of Omaha, Nebraska, and Mike Julius and Bruce Porter of Twin Lakes, Iowa; sister Jan (Denny) Flaherty of Pocahontas, Iowa; sister-in-law Nancy Julius; brother-in-law Budd Legg many nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.

Lynn was preceded in death by his parents Corbett and Geraldine, his brother Jim, and his sister Marge.

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