Julie Kay (Zimmerman) McNamara

Julie Kay (Zimmerman) McNamara, age 55, of Groton, MA, died Tuesday, September 22, 2020, following a courageous battle with glioblastoma.

Born on August 22, 1965, in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Julie was the daughter of Thomas A. and Beverly K. Zimmerman, originally from Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Julie attended high school in Chambersburg, PA, and earned a B.A. in English from Gettysburg College in 1987.

During her first few years after college, Julie excelled as a canvasser and field manager for Pennsylvania Citizens Action and Greenpeace, raising funds and awareness to help address a range of issues she cared deeply about.

In 1991, Julie moved to Massachusetts to reconnect with her college sweetheart, Brian McNamara, whom she had met while they both attended Gettysburg. Julie and Brian married in 1994, eventually buying their first house in Waltham.

Eager to improve her job prospects and always unafraid to reinvent herself, Julie enrolled in a client-server technologies certificate program at Clark University in 1995, which led to a successful career in the then-booming Massachusetts technology sector.  However, Julie put her career ambitions on hold in the early 2000s to devote her energy to being a full-time mom.

A life-long animal lover, Julie became involved with a local trap-neuter-release (TNR) program in Waltham, working with fellow volunteers to humanely manage the local feral cat population. After moving to Groton in 2006, Julie continued pursuing her passion for cat rescue by working with no-kill shelters to foster and rehome cats in need. Thanks to Julie’s commitment and tireless efforts, dozens of homeless cats that might otherwise have been euthanized were instead adopted to loving new homes.

In addition to her husband, Brian, Julie is survived by her daughters Lucy and Ellen, of Groton, and her mother, Beverly, of Martinsburg, PA. (and her many, many cats!)

Services will be private for immediate family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Second Chance Shelter for Cats (Jamaica Plain, MA - https://www.facebook.com/Second-Chance-Shelter-for-Cats-145669743136) or to the National Brain Tumor Society (https://braintumor.org/)