Julia B. Scully, cobbler activist, dies at 69

JULIA ANN Bowman Scully, a full-blooded Navajo Indian who worked as a cobbler in Center City for some 20 years and was a strong advocate for the rights of Native Americans, died of a heart condition April 14. She was 69 and lived in Southwest Philadelphia.

Julia was born on the Navajo Reservation near Gallup, N.M., to Samuel and Miriam Bowman.

In her youth, she traveled widely in the West, working various jobs. She worked for a time on an uncle's farm in Idaho, and later as a babysitter and nanny to families near Lake Tahoe, in Utah, Colorado and elsewhere.

She attended a boarding school on the reservation, then a nursing school in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1964 on a scholarship.

"She wanted to be a nurse," said her son, John, a Navy lieutenant. "But she never worked as a nurse."

Instead, she met John C. Scully, of Philadelphia, when he was an Army military policeman at Fort Carson, Colo. They were married in 1965. The couple moved to Philadelphia, where he became a police officer. The marriage ended in divorce in 1984.

Julia became involved with the United American Indians of Delaware Valley, which had its headquarters in Center City. It was there that she trained as a cobbler. She also received her GED.

"She loved shoes," her son said. "Native Americans would come in and offer training in different occupations."

It was through the center that she became an activist. She testified before a U.S. Senate committee, and joined in marches and demonstrations for Indian rights.

"She was fiercely independent," her son said. "Things had to be her way. You know the Sinatra son, 'My Way.' That was my mom.

"She would let you know if you were doing something wrong. She would stand her ground."

Julia was fond of animals. When her son went to her home after her death, he found bags of Meow Mix.

"She would feed stray cats, her neighbors told me," John said. "She didn't have any pets of her own, but she took care of the neighborhood strays."

Julia loved to walk, and would walk miles to a grocery store, the Gallery or elsewhere. She enjoyed reading, especially mysteries and suspense novels.

The death of her daughter, Julie Marie, in 1999 hit her hard. Besides her son, she is survived by five grandchildren.

Services: 1 p.m. Saturday at the Chapel of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station.