Julia "Jupe" Stuart Earnest

Julia “Jupe” Stuart Earnest passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 6, 2023 with the love of her family surrounding her.

Julia was born in Osceola, Iowa on August 14, 1961 to Lonnie and Kathleen Stuart. She graduated from Interstate 35 High School in 1980. She worked as an activities director for 30 years, twenty of those years were spent caring for residents, along with many wonderful and caring volunteers at Care Center South in Winterset. She loved every one of her residents as much as they loved her.

In 2019, Julia met the love of her life and best friend, Ken Earnest. They were married May 30, 2020. They enjoyed fishing, traveling and the many blessings God has given them. Spending time with the grandkids, camping and fishing were at the top of the list. As Julia would say, “there was never a dull moment in the house when Ken was there”, due to the loving bantering between the two and the shenanigans he would pull on her. Their fur babies, cat, Hannibal, and dogs, Leo, Sophie & Annie May brought much love and comfort for her.

Julia was a woman of many passions including a heart of gold in taking care of others, cooking, riding the horse trails at Kirkland’s, attending the Iowa State Fair to watch Uncle Gerald and cousin Jim’s Belgian draft teams, sewing, swimming in her backyard pool with her grandkids, and most importantly, story- telling. We all have been entertained by her many “stories” that always seemed to get better each time she told them. Julia had become a BIG fan of the Kansas City Chiefs after attending her first NFL football game with her Aunt Joanie Stuart. She could not stop talking about it.

She will be greatly missed by her husband, Ken; children, Lonnie, Natalie (Andrew), Delaney (Dobber); grandchildren, Kaylee, Paislee, Bentlee, Hallie, and Dawson; mother, Kathleen Stuart; mother-in-law, Doris Harper; sisters, Loretta Paullin (Bob), Sharon (friend, Lori), and Tammy Downs (Dean); sister-in-law, Mary Belieu as well as many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and a whole host of family & friends.

Julia was preceded in death by her father, Lonnie; daughter, Sarah; and nephew, Bradley Paullin.

A Celebration of Julia’s Life will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, May 20, 2023 at the Living Loving Church of the Nazarene, (418 W. Summit Street, Winterset, Iowa 50273), where family will greet friends one hour prior. A luncheon will follow the service. Burial will take place at a later date in the Peru Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be directed to Westview of Indianola Care Center (1900 West 3rd Pl., Indianola, IA 50125).