GORHAM—Julia Smith Berry, 66, passed away at Maine Medical Center on May 26, 2018, after a courageous 16-month battle with ovarian cancer. A New England native, Julie was born in Burlington, Vermont to Dr. Robert Pease and Caroline Wheelock Smith. She inherited her father's generous and loving heart and her mother's fiery and determined spirit. Julie spent her early years in Vermont, and her high school years in Kentucky where she graduated from Kentucky Home School for Girls in 1970. She received her Bachelor's Degree as a 3rd generation Wellesley College graduate in 1974. After college, Julie moved to Maine where she started her own family just up the coast from her family's summer home. She later earned her Master's Degree in Special Education at the University of Maine at Orono while raising a toddler. It was important to Julie that everyone around her felt loved and included, whether it was making room for extra guests at family gatherings, cheerleading for the underdog, or sneaking a grandchild an extra cookie when no one was looking. But her greatest joy was being with children. She spent her career working as a special education teacher throughout the state of Maine. She taught in a variety of settings, including Head Start, traditional classrooms, and a sheltered workshop for handicapped adults. However, her special interest was in working with at-risk middle school students, with whom she had a unique ability to bond. In retirement she divided her time between caring for her elderly mother and helping raise her ever-increasing brood of grandchildren. Julie amassed an extensive collection of toys which she delighted in sharing with her family. She would get down on the floor and play with her young grandchildren, starting in the morning and continuing right through to bedtime, long after the other adults wore themselves out. She was fond of outdoor activities with her family, including swimming in the cold Maine ocean, island picnics, hiking, cross-country skiing, and camping. Her children and grandchildren enjoyed accompanying her on a tour of theme parks, children's museums, fairs, and other kid-friendly adventures. She and her husband enjoyed more rugged trips in the Canadian Maritimes. These eventually extended to the Arctic initially by land travel, and when land ran out, by boat. In later years, she acquired her mother's love of gardening and would spend hours establishing perennial beds around her Gorham home. In 2015, while digging in one of her these beds, she stood down a wandering bear. The bear moved on, but the flowers will continue to bloom in her memory for many summers to come. She is survived by her husband, Dr. James Berry of Maine; children, Sarah Merlo and her husband Daniel of Ohio, and Gretchen Gross and her husband Lee of Virginia; stepchildren, Rachael Myers and her husband Randall of Massachusetts, James Berry Jr. and his wife Andreya Mihaloew of Delaware, and Jason Berry of Maine; grandchildren, Kaylee, Jack, Tyler, Jamie, Evi, Isaac, Hannah, Leeanne, Phoenix, Robert, Ally, Grace, and Eli; siblings, Robert P. Smith Jr. and his wife Margaret Creighton of Maine, Cynthia Smith of Massachusetts, Sara Neagle and her husband Chris of Vermont, Alexander Smith and his partner Susan Kass of Vermont, and Elizabeth Smith of Maine. A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, July 21, 2018 at 3pm at the First Parish Congregational Church, 1 Church Street, Gorham, ME 04038. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Julie's name may be made to the Cancer Community Center in South Portland or SMART Child and Family Services in Windham.