Julie Samuels, 80, a longtime Oak Park activist, died on July 19, 2024. Born on June 14, 1944 in Cleveland, Ohio. She attended Miami University in Ohio at a time when Freedom Riders were being trained there in nonviolent resistance. She graduated in 1966 and moved to New York City, where she worked visiting families to provide social work support. In the course of her work, she met Bruce, who was doing research on the new Head Start program. Julie and Bruce were married in 1968 and moved to Oak Park in 1973.
They were lifelong champions of social and environmental issues. When she and Bruce applied for a mortgage for their own home, they were denied because it was “too old” — an excuse used to justify abandoning neighborhoods threatened with racial change. A community organizer at heart, she took leadership in a coalition fighting these “redlining” practices, achieving national legislation to end the practice. She was interviewed about her work on 60 Minutes.
She believed in reduce-reuse-recycle and practiced it before the issue was well known, serving on the boards of the Chicago Recycling Coalition, the Safer Pest Control Project, and the Illinois Environmental Council.
She started a food co-op because she believed food should be “for people and not for profit.” She supported community gardens in the Chicago communities of Austin, North Lawndale, and Englewood, working with Lillian Drummond at the Austin Satellite Senior Center, because gardens built community and strengthened people’s power to address environmental and social justice concerns.
She worked with other residents to design the village recycling program in the 1980s and later to establish the Southeast Oak Park Community Organization. She was active in village government commissions and supporting candidates for local and state offices. For seven years, she served as coordinator of the Illinois Affordable Budget Coalition to provide affordable utilities for low-income residents. She helped start the Green Party in Illinois and ran as its candidate for state representative in 2004 and lieutenant governor in 2006. Governor Pat Quinn appointed her to the Chicago State University Board of Trustees. She worked with Open Lands from 1994 to 2013 doing community outreach and serving as Community Gardens Coordinator, including teaching at the Garfield Park Conservatory and volunteering with the Chicago Community Gardeners Association.
She volunteered in her children’s schools and welcomed her children’s participation in her community activities. She shared laughs with her bridge group and her breakfast group (Women Organized for Meaningful Breakfasts or WOMB).
She believed, “A sustainable community is one that creates a small footprint and is self-sufficient, where money is recycled through locally owned businesses, where waste and toxins are eliminated, and local residents’ talents, skills, and insights are sought after and respected.”
Julie is survived by Bruce, her husband of over 50 years and biggest cheerleader, and her beloved children Rachel (Ty Smith), Aaron (Veneta), and Noah.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Aug. 31, at Pleasant Home, 217 Home Ave., Oak Park. Details will be updated on her page on Legacy.com.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Chicago Community Gardeners Association through their website at ChicagoCommunityGardens.org.
