Obituary of Julie Margaret Mulligan

First and foremost, Julie considered herself very lucky to be a member of a close and supportive family.  Pre-deceased by her mother Margaret (nee McDonald) and father Gerald, survived by brothers, Don (Sharon), Steve (Susan) and Paul (Carol), as well and numerous nieces and nephews and great nephews.  A special thanks to Steve and Susan for all the help and support during a time of declining health.  She would also like to thank her many friends and former colleagues who provided amazing support through recent difficult times.

Julie was a fiercely independent person, an avid gardener, reader, painter and golfer.  She was a proud landscape architect and biologist.  After graduating with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Toronto in 1980, she practiced for 3 years in Calgary, Alberta, returning to Ottawa in 1984.  In 1986 she became Vice-President of the Ottawa branch of Project Planning Canada.  In 1995 she bought the branch and set up Mulligan Associates, Ecosystem Planning and Design.  During this time, she also completed a Master of Science in Biology at the University of Ottawa (2000), focused on the biological aspects of stormwater management. In 2001, she joined the National Capital Commission (NCC) as a Project Manager in the Landscape Architecture Division.  This gave her an opportunity to work on the type of projects that most interested her, biologically based landscape architecture and the ability to contribute to regional scale planning and design initiatives. 

Julie was one of the key organizers of the First Canadian Urban Forest Conference held in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1993.  While Julie certainly planted a large number of trees during her 40-year career, it is the many mature trees and woodlands that she showed her clients how to feasibly preserve for which she was most proud.

Some of her favourite projects included a restoration plan for heavily urbanized Pinecrest Creek, development of a strategy to restore the immense and unstable Green’s Creek Watershed, and development and implementation of a preservation plan for Mud Lake in Britannia. 

She also represented the NCC on many important technical advisory committees, such as the City of Ottawa updated stormwater management strategy, the City of Ottawa LRT Phase 2 design development and the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario context sensitive design for the widening of the Queensway through the national capital.  She also loved floral and planting design such as redesign and expansion of the Garden of the Provinces and Territories on Wellington St. and redesign of the tropical Palmhouse at Rideau Hall.  During her 15 years at the National Capital Commission, she was also able to design and implement 40 kilometres of the planned ultimate 65 km Greenbelt Pathway. 

In 2014, Julie published a book she wrote about her father, entitled The Real Weed Man, Portrait of Canadian Botanist Gerald A. Mulligan. In recent years, Julie actively supported research and funding for Ovarian Cancer Canada, Patient Partners in Research initiatives and Laval University studies.

A Celebration of Life in Julie's honour will be held at the Pinecrest Remembrance Services, 2500 Baseline Road on Monday, May 11th from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Julie's memory can be made to Ovarian Cancer Canada, the Youville Centre of Ottawa and Friends of the Experimental Farm.