Julia Cheskaty

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March 10, 1922 – March 12, 2015
Julia Marie (Ekker) Cheskaty of Carlsbad, Calif. passed away March 12, 2015, two days after her 93rd Birthday. Julia was born in Green River, Utah on March 10, 1922 to Cornelius and Edna Gibbons Ekker, the eighth of their 12 children.
She grew up on cattle ranches and mining claims in what is now Canyonlands National Park and eastern Utah. Her large, loving and very lively family enriched her childhood and continued to be a source of pride as their numbers grew over the years, never missing Ekker family reunions filled with music and laughter.
Julia attended grade schools in Green River, Utah and Grand Junction, Colo., graduating from Bicknell High School, Bicknell, Utah. After attending Utah State University, Logan, as a freshman, she enrolled at St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in Denver. Following graduation in 1945, Julia met and married Lawrence Cheskaty of Grand Junction, Colo. on March 20, 1946. In 1948, the young family moved to San Diego, Calif. where she and Lawrence raised their three children.
During her career as an RN, Julia worked at St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo; at Grossmont Hospital, La Mesa, Calif. as Supervisor of Nurses; and in private medical practice until retirement in 1978. While compassion and care of her patients was her natural gift, her greatest joy was always as a Mother. Her many interests included travel, gardening, reading, and learning from all who crossed her path. Her door was always open to family and friends.
Julia is survived by her husband Lawrence, son Barry (Cathy), La Mesa, Calif., daughter Linda Monaghan, Carlsbad, Calif., daughter Pamela (Tom Bechtell), Portland, Ore., sister Gladys May, Green River, Utah, three grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.
Services will be private with interment at a later date in the Veterans Memorial Cemetery of Western Colorado at Grand Junction, Colo. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made in her name to the John Wesley Powell River History Museum, Green River, Utah or Shriners Hospitals For Children.