Honoring Julie

By Jim Sawyer

Her name was Julie Davis. She was a daughter, a wife, a mother, a special education teacher and, among many other things, a fine flyfisherlady. Julie recently lost a courageous fight against the dreaded disease, cancer.

Those who knew Julie will never forget her. She had a special compassion for people, animals and the environment and was able to pass that on to those around her. We all learned many lessons from her.

Her last class of special needs students came up with the saying “Life needs more Julies” and made items with that printed on them. This is an indication of her impact on the lives of those in need. Many agree that the saying is very valid.

Julie was my daughter. My name is Jim Sawyer. Julie was a natural at flyfishing. Since she and her family lived out of state, we had very few opportunities to be on the rivers. But the times we had were very special and will be remembered forever. I am a custom flyrod builder and build only a few for very special people. One time, I built a beautiful custom rod and gave it to her while we were rigging up at the river. She shed a tear, as did I. It was a very special day.

To Honor her, and in memory of, I chose to donate 3 decorative flyrod wraps to the SaraBella Fishing organization. I feel that Julie’s compassion will rub off onto the lucky owners of those fly rods.

Jim Sawyer is a US Veteran, the rod-building coordinator (and various other volunteer/board capacities) for Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, and now a team member of SaraBella Fishing. We are grateful to know him and to join him in honoring his daughter, Julie.