Julie A. Townsend

Julie A. Townsend, 54 of Fort Scott died Thursday, April 9, 2015 at Mercy Hospital in Joplin, Mo. She was born March 9, 1961 in Fort Scott, Kan., the daughter of Richard Donald and Norma Jean (Wilson) Fitzsimmons. She married Matthew A. Townsend May 29, 1982 in Fort Scott, Kan., he survives of the home.

If you live your life right, you end up with an excellent story, filled with the things that brought you joy, the things you overcame, the things that made you laugh. Let's start with the laugh. The Laugh. It was omnipresent, as if her cells couldn't contain all the happiness inside, so it came bubbling out in the most infectious, room-filling laugh anyone has ever heard. She was simply joyous, all the time, in every situation.

They say babies cry at birth, but one has to wonder if page one of her story began with a laugh instead. Julie grew up in a three-story house shaped like a wedding cake. Her parents, Richard and Norma Fitzsimmons, raised her and her brothers, David, Mike, and Kevin there, in a house that looked as happy as she was.

The things that brought her joy. Everything seemed to bring Julie joy. To choose just a handful -- Matt, her husband of 32 years. They started dating in high school and never stopped looking at each other with the softness of brand new love. Mindy -- her first born. A daughter who papered her walls with stars and planets, who today writes and works with insistent passion that justice is for all people. Evan -- her son who inherited her easy laugh, who on the saddest day can have you guffawing, who spends his days helping people who can't do a thing to repay him. Her family --that's a legacy.

Some might say she couldn't overcome cancer. In one way that's true; her body finally said "enough." But are you really defeated if you wake up each day determined to focus on the good in front of you?

Mustn't forget to add stories to her list of joys. "Story Time" in particular. Julie was Fort Scott's Children's Librarian long enough for the first kids she read to, to have kids she read to. So many people living in this town were delighted by the stories and crafts Miss Julie prepared for them, by the hugs she wrapped them in coming and going. That is a legacy too.

Every good story contains foreshadowing -- events that point to something yet to come, moments that you usually don't notice until later. About a week before Julie left her body behind, she went to the hospital, and we all thought it was the end. So we climbed in our cars, drove to Fort Scott, sat in her room, and miracle of miracles, she got better. We visited, told stories, laughed (of course), and said all the sweet things we too often put off for another time. For a week, for the first time in a long time, it was Matt, Julie, Mindy, and Evan back in the house. It was a gift. She got to go to Easter Mass. She had a final birthday party. She had been 54 for exactly one month when she placed the final period on her final sentence. Her story however, stays. And it's a good one.

In addition to her husband, Matt, she is survived by her daughter, Mindy Townsend of Topeka, Kan., her son, Evan Townsend of Tulsa, Okla., her Mother, Norma of Fort Scott, and three brothers, David Fitzsimmons of St. Robert's, Mo., Mike Fitzsimmons of Dallas, Texas, and Kevin Fitzsimmons of Tulsa, Okla. She was preceded in death by her father, Richard D. Fitzsimmons.

Father Robert Wachter will celebrate the Mass of Christian Burial, Wednesday, 10 a.m., April 15, 2015 at the Mary Queen of Angels Catholic Church, burial will follow in the St. Mary's Cemetery. Father Wachter will pray the Rosary, 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 14 at the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home with a visitation to follow. Memorials may be made to the St. Mary's Catholic School and may be sent to or left in the care of the Konantz-Cheney Funeral Home, 15 W. Wall St., P.O. Box 309, Fort Scott, KS 66701. Condolences to the family may be sent to expressions@konantz-cheney.com.