JULIE ANN FRENCH, 65 of rural Meriden, Iowa, passed away Saturday afternoon, March 11, 2017 at her home with her family by her side.

Memorial services will be held on Wednesday, March 15th, at 10:30 a.m. at the Cleghorn Presbyterian Church. Pastor Peggy Hegeman and Pastor Bob Blair will officiate. Burial will be in the Meriden Cemetery at a later date. It was Julie's wish to be cremated. There will be a family prayer service at 10:15 a.m. at the church on Wednesday. Visitation will be on Tuesday from 2 p.m. until 7 p.m with the family present from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa.

Julie was born on July 30, 1951 at Sioux City, Iowa to Chester & Jeane (Pease) Young. She graduated from Westwood High School at Sloan, Iowa in 1969. She had worked at Kay Dee Stockyards in Sioux City for a few years. Julie then went to work for the U.S. Postal Service as a rural carrier at Whiting, Iowa for 16 years and then transferred to the Cherokee Post Office as a carrier and clerk, retiring on February 9, 2006. She was married to Bruce French on June 6, 1992 at the Cleghorn Presbyterian Church. Julie was an ISU Master Gardener. She was a member of the Cleghorn Presbyterian Church where she had served on the church board and on the Cleghorn Library Board. She enjoyed gardening, horseback riding, reading, photography, writing, blogging, baking, and being a very helpful farmer's wife. She loved spending time with her family, her gardening club friends, tending to any birds or animals that may need a helping hand, and finding treasures with friends (aka "junkin for garden art"). She especially liked her cats.

She was preceded in death by her parents and husband Craig Dittman.

She is survived by her husband Bruce of Meriden, Iowa; two sisters: Sara (Max) Thomas of Denison, Iowa; Roseanne (Peter) Van Etten of Smithland, Iowa; five brothers: Dennis (Mary Ellen) Young of Dunlap, Iowa; David (Ruth) Young of Pineville, Missouri; Tom (Sue) Young of Sioux City, Iowa; Dan Young of Omaha, Nebraska; Robb (Teresa) Young of Crested Butte, Colorado; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law: Janet (Gerald) Lundquist of Paullina, Iowa; Jean (John) Salzwedel of DeForest, Wisconsin; Carol (Tom) Waldack of Hopkins, Minnesota; Shirley (Rich) Foerster of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin; Paul (Lori) Meyer of Conger, Minnesota; nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, extended family, friends and loved ones.