Julia Madden, age 82, passed away on Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at Atria Willow Glen in San Jose.  She was born on August 13, 1935, in Fall River, Massachusetts to Joseph and Julia Powers.  While attending Durfee High School she was Class Secretary for two years and President of the Health Club as well as active in the theater program.  Upon graduation, she was awarded a scholarship to attend the Katherine Gibbs School in Providence, Rhode Island.

In 1958 she married Thomas E. Madden and they moved from the East Coast first to Sunnyvale and then settled in Saratoga in 1965.  They had four children prior to their divorce in 1973: Thomas Lee (Maureen) of Kensington, Maryland; Geri Derendinger (Denis) of Sunnyvale; Stephen (Inés) of Campbell; and Daniel (Rosann) of San Ramon.  Julia began working as an Executive Secretary at TRW Microwave in Sunnyvale.  In 1975 she purchased a townhouse in Campbell, where she lived for the next 42 years until she moved to Atria in Fall 2017.  In 1990, after a massive layoff at her semiconductor company she decided to go back to school and in 1994 at age 59 received a B.A. Summa Cum Laude with Honors in English from San Jose State University.

For the last ten years of her career, Julia worked in the Department of Communication Studies at SJSU, retiring as Office Manager in 2000.  She was active in the employee union, participating in policy setting meetings and retreats.  A consummate volunteer, she indulged her love of reading by selling used books for the Friends of the Saratoga Library and also was a docent for California Native Plant Society tours.  Julia volunteered in the county jail, providing a listening ear to lonely women.  

As a child of the Great Depression, she was very concerned to maintain a small environmental footprint and use few resources.  In retirement she would walk to St. Thomas of Canterbury, her parish, everyday Mass was celebrated and used public transportation whenever she could.  She loved to be outdoors with friends and joined two weekly hiking groups where she continually made new friends.  At home, she gardened with California native plants and would playfully show off by reciting their common and scientific names.  She adored cats and in 2002 adopted two hissing feral kittens from West Valley College, Missy and Cissy, which she lavished with love and attention.  A high school thespian, Julia introduced her grandchildren to the joy of musical theater by taking them to shows at Children’s Musical Theater San Jose for many years.

She is survived by her children and six grandchildren: Michael, Julianne, Nicholas, Angelina, Sofia, and Federico Madden, as well as her large family on the East Coast: her siblings Joan, Mary, and Thomas plus many wonderful nieces, nephews, and cousins.  Her beloved brothers Joseph and Dennis predeceased her.  

A memorial Mass will be held Saturday, March 17 at 2 p.m. at her church, St. Thomas of Canterbury, 1522 McCoy Avenue, San Jose, CA, 95130.  Immediately afterward, there will be a reception to share memories of Julia hosted by her family at a private home nearby.  True to her frugal nature, Julia asked that a minimum of resources be spent on her memorial and donations be made in her memory to Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence and Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority (SVACA).