Julia Leggett

Julia “Juli” Elizabeth Leggett of Newark passed away peacefully on June 21, 2022, at the age of 75. Juli is proceeded in death by her husband Steve, her brother Randy, and her parents Madeline and Raymond.

She is survived by her sister Peggy Messerschmidt, her nephew, Joseph Messerschmidt, her brother, David Stanley, stepchildren Paula Miller (James), Steven Leggett (Yvonne), Laura Leggett (Steve), six beloved grandchildren Nevin, Steven, Kyler, Yvonne, Brock, and Khalil, as well a wonderful group of friends including Marie Seeds, her best friend of 61 years.

Julia was born in Oakland, CA and grew up in San Leandro with her mother, older brother, Randy and younger sister, Peggy. They lived in a close-knit neighborhood where the children played baseball in the street and hide and seek on summer nights. Her best friends growing up were Kay Chin (later McGuire) and Marie Seeds, both of whom lived on Russ Avenue with her. She was raised Catholic and attended Assumption Catholic School in San Leandro and Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland. At Assumption, she was a cheerleader, participated in folk dancing festivals, and attended a special creative writing class in 8th grade. She later also took courses at Chabot College and College of Oakland.

Her name, Julia Elizabeth, comes from two sources: Julia is a family name that started with her maternal grandmother and was shared by a maternal aunt and cousin. Elizabeth was for Queen Elizabeth, whom her mother loved. She came from a large, extended family that included aunts, uncles, cousins both in California and Missouri and some “courtesy” aunts and uncles who were related to spouses of her mother’s sisters. Much of her family had moved from Kansas City. MO before World War II to work at the Alameda Naval Air Station. The family had numerous holiday and birthday gatherings and spent summers camping in Yosemite National Park for weeks at a time. Often, there was a large group of family, friends, and lots of children to get into mischief with. The group usually hiked in the mornings, rode air mattresses down the Merced River in the afternoons, and attended campfire programs in the evenings, ending with watching the Firefall while singing around the campfire.

Her parents were divorced when she was four and she was raised primarily by her mother. Many years later she met her two half-brothers at her father’s funeral and was fortunate to get to know one of them, David, since then. She found commonality with her new sister-in-law too through their joint love of quilting.

From an early age, her creativity showed itself through fixing hair for family members and friends, especially for proms, weddings, and other special events. She attended beauty school in Hayward and got a cosmetology license, although she only practiced formally while living in Alabama with her first husband. Throughout her life she loved knitting, crocheting, quilting, and jewelry making, often gifting what she made to family and friends. For a time, she sold her creations at several different arts and crafts shows or in home art shows through her business “Leggacy Designs”. She continued to create until her last days at Lincoln Villa retirement facility where she made scarves and jewelry for the staff. The rafters of her garage were filled with yarn, and one room was devoted to her fabric which came from all over the country.

She married her first husband at age 22 and helped support him while he was in optometry school at UC Berkeley. They first lived in Ojai where he worked in a private practice, then moved back to the Bay Area so he could pursue a PhD. They lived in student housing, eventually moving to Birmingham, so he could teach at the University of Alabama. Once they divorced, Juli moved back to the Bay Area and lived in Hayward, then Castro Valley and San Leandro. She worked at several jobs, at one point with the newly formed San Francisco Trauma Foundation, started by her friend Andrew McGuire. While there, she worked with burn victims and helped organize fund raising events with the Oakland Fire Department.  Later, she worked for a company selling patio enclosures, managing the company’s Union City office.

In 1996 Juli was introduced to Steve Leggett through a mutual friend. They were married September 25, 1999. Juli, never having children of her own, became a stepmother to Steve’s three children, Paula, Steven, and Laura. It was not easy stepping into a family with adult children who had recently lost their mother, but Juli, ever so gently, let the relationships become what they were meant to be and found her place in their lives. During a question and answer that Juli had with her nephew Joseph, this is what she said about her life in 2006, “The most enjoyable time in my life is right now. I’m happily married, retired, able to indulge most of my whims, I have a fantastically wonderful sister and nephew of whom I am very proud of. I have become a grandmother by marrying a man with three grown children and is a treasured pleasure I did not think I would ever experience because I did not have children of my own”.

Juli and Steve loved to travel to Half Moon Bay, Monterey, and San Francisco. They enjoyed eating out together and talking about life, their family, and the state of the world. They loved Jeopardy and they were great adversaries when it came to who would answer the questions first. She lived a multitude of lives and was always ready to talk about how she could change the world with her friends if they were in charge. She was a wonderful ear for those who needed to have someone who would listen, really examine the situation, and respond with honest thoughtful opinions.

She was a wonderful grandmother who’s cackling, joyous, and boisterous laugh was contagious. Grandma “JuJu” was always a champion of whatever the grandchildren were growing into, ever interested in their experiences, and wanting to hear about their successes and hardships.

She was always there loving, listening, contemplating, and knitting. You could rely on her doing all those, most of the time at the same time, she was consistent as the sun rising.

Julia, like her husband, depending on who you were to her, had many names. They were Juli, Juli Beth, JB, J, JuJu, Grandma, and Mom, and we will miss hearing all of them come out of our collective mouths.

A celebration of life will be held at Berge-Pappas-Smith Chapel of the Angels on Friday, July 1, 2022, at 40842 Fremont Blvd. Fremont, Ca. 94538. A reception will follow at the family home.