Mt. Pleasant, SC- Jack and Jackson Hamilton invite their friends to a celebration of the life and love of Julia Hamilton, wife, mother, musician and activist on Saturday, July 18 from 10 am to 12 noon at the I’On Amphitheater in 102 W Shipyard Rd, Mt Pleasant, SC. The Rev. Thomas Dixon will preside. We ask that all present wear a mask and come with their families to stand or sit by one of the pinwheels set out in the Amphitheater grass, which will be set about 12 feet apart. You should also bring water and a hat. It’s perfectly fine to bring a chair or small umbrella. We’ll hold the event in the rain if we have to. A special limited area at the top of the hill beneath the trees will be set up for extreme social distancing for those with vulnerable conditions. The covid busters will help encourage and support effective separation and safety.
Julia’s Life
Julia was born Julia Patricia Burns, a cherished bonus baby and the youngest of four Children on September 21, 1958. She began playing violin at age 8. She graduated from the College of Charleston in 1979 and worked for a time at Westvaco, while also performing as a violinist with the Charleston Symphony. She later worked for Santee Cooper at Cross Generating station where she wore a hard hat and helped restore power after Hurricane Hugo. She rescued William Hamilton from loneliness on Feb. 9, 1986 after an after-church discussion about the Challenger tragedy at the Unitarian Church. They were married 9 months later a sunny day in December and Jack carried her over the threshold of their home with a white picket fence in her wedding dress. They were very happy together and found themselves at the center of an ever-growing circle of friends which now reaches around the earth. Their son and only child, Jackson Hamilton was born on May 1st 1992, on Law Day during the LA Riots.
They were busy with child rearing, music making, activism and writing until they moved to the then new I’On Community in September 2000. In I’On Julia founded I’Onissimo! The community chamber music organization which ultimately included a string quartet, woodwinds group, brass quintet, chorus and orchestra. It performed over 100 concerts over ten years. Plans for the Amphitheater in I’On were elaborated and expanded after she and her friends began performing on the porches of the Community.
Julia was a determined part of a family team which worked for a better community. She welcomed hundreds of activists to the Hamilton home in I’On, alternating the roles of hostess, counselor, and political philosopher. She fought for affordable housing, freedom of expression, public transit and a living wage, among many other things. She edited and improved over a million words of her husband’s writing and her own writing and poetry, while rare, was always worth reading.
Julia’s Last Months
The national descent into anger and failure of the Covid epidemic was painful to Julia, but she did enjoy the two months when her family was locked down, together at home, playing chess with neighbors across the street, making healthy meals and enjoying each other. Julia continued to work as an activist after she retired from work due to injury in 2013, She attended her last event, a small socially distanced model demonstration on Maybank Green in I’On on May 4, 2020. She walked from the Hamilton home with her cane two blocks away, almost certainly in pain.
Julia’s chronic health problems erupted into crisis with an outbreak of septis from an old surgical scar after William returned home from a demonstration at the SC Statehouse on Wed. June 24. They had a quiet hour at home together that evening where they reviewed the report of the day. She died the following day with her son, husband and sisters at her bedside. In her last hours Thomas Dixon and Louise Brown spoke to her on the phone. Though she was sedated, Julia squeezed Jack’s hand when Louise prayed a demand to almighty God on the phone. God chose another answer to that prayer.
Julia’s Gift
Julia brought the gift of forgiving love to her husband and son, difficult men to share a home with. She loved mercy and justice and offered strength to the fighters who surrounded her. She offered music to all. In the bitterly dark days of her last month, she remained determined that better days and a renewal of love and decency were assured to the world. However pessimistic and weary her friends were, Julia believed that they would win the future for her, for those she loved and all those to follow. She did not want to die.
Following the memorial service, Julia’s cremated remains will be interred at Magnolia Cemetery in the Greenhill section in a box handmade by her friends. Attendance at the graveside will be limited to family by cemetery regulation, but we invite everyone to caravan to the Cemetery gate if they wish. Afterwards, please spend the rest of the day with the people you love and make sure they know you love them.
Gifts in Memory of Julia
Gifts in Julia’s memory may be made to Best Friends of Lowcountry Transit (Not Lowcountry Rapid Transit) on Act Blue at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/best-friends-of-lowcountry-transit--inc--1