Meet Julia Astrid Kierig, Culpepper Garden Independent Living Resident

Julia, a gracious lady, has lived at Culpepper Garden for seven years and loves being here; she says, “I call it my home.”

Julia was born in Oruro, Bolivia, the youngest of five children of a German father who was in the mining business, and a Bolivian mother. Julia attended a German school until high school, where she first learned English. Her father spoke five languages and wanted her to learn one well, thus she attended an English high school and then two years of college. She married, had three children, worked as a bilingual secretary in an immigration office. In 1984, after being divorced, she decided to come to the U.S. and worked as a nanny for 20 years in Virginia. She saved money, got her green card in 1987, and was able to bring her three children from Bolivia that year. She is so proud that she became a U.S. citizen in 2000. Her three children are now ages 44, 41, and 37—her older daughter, Astrid, is an international attorney, working on her Doctorate; her son, Mark, works in computer design; and her younger daughter, Jacqueline, works in medical billing. Julia has two granddaughters, ages 20 and 18, and twin grandsons, age 10.

Julia is so proud of her children and grandchildren and so happy that she has settled at Culpepper Garden, where she often volunteers as a Spanish-English interpreter, and does dinner check. She organized and leads a Spanish Book Club that meets once every two weeks in the Senior Center. Julia loves music, particularly classical and Spanish music, enjoys flower arranging—and has a lively 6-year-old blue parakeet named Pillie who is “her baby.” (August 2016)