Julie Sbrocco has moved on from this life to receive her well-deserved heavenly reward of the beatific vision, in the company of her Lord Jesus, to whom she was very devoted, and his Blessed Mother Mary, to whom she prayed for assistance throughout her life, especially for the preborn. She was very devoted to them and to the cause of protecting them for 47 years until her death, April 2, 2021, at age 87.

She will be remembered for having led the St. William parish pro-life group in Euclid, Ohio under pastor, Fr. David Baugh, who was a great supporter of the group’s efforts. He gave her his own personal award, thanking her for her 12 years of dedicated service to the unborn. After his retirement, Julie moved on to Immaculate Conception in Willoughby, Ohio and served as leader of that parish’s pro-life group for 16 years. She worked with several dedicated pro-lifers at both parishes and worked with LCRTL as well. The length and breadth of her involvement was well represented at her funeral, where many friends and compatriots came to express their condolences at the loss of a friend, leader, and fellow pro-life warrior. She fought for the sanctity of life in so many ways and for so many years.

Julie organized and perpetuated the Week of Prayer and Fasting at the beginning of October, the Respect Life Month in the Catholic Church, by making all the arrangements necessary for 5 - 6 local parishes, whereby each parish would take a certain day and dedicate one of their Masses to the protection of the unborn. She did this for 20 plus years up until she died. She participated in many Masses and Holy Hours for an end to abortion and she prayed many rosaries at local abortion clinics. She prayed that they be closed and for young women not to kill their babies. She also participated in the Forty Days for Life campaigns.

Under her leadership, her parishes participated in many activities to promote awareness of the plight of the unborn in the parish and community. She participated in the annual Life Chain, attended local and national marches for life, did fund raisers and donated the proceeds to help women in crisis pregnancies through sizable donations to Birthright, Womankind, Open Door Maternity Home and Hanna’s House. She was involved in the erection of rows of white crosses on the parish grounds to demonstrate to the public the atrocious number of babies murdered by abortion every year. She also maintained a Pro-Life booth at Immaculate Conception’s Oktoberfest every summer, that reached out to the many teens and attendees with the pro-life message. She also helped carry the enormous Divine Mercy Banner  in various Cleveland parades. One of the projects nearest to her heart was the advertising of the pro-life message on the Lake Tran busses in October 2020, in the hopes of helping to re-elect President Trump and other pro-life candidates. This project helped President Trump win Lake County and Ohio.

She took her activity to the classroom as well. As a PSR teacher for a substantial number of years, she made the pro-life message a part of her curriculum and she was also a Choose Life instructor with Life Works.

She strongly believed political action was necessary to return the right to life to our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. She agreed with Fr. Frank Pavone, from Priests for Life (she financially supported them for many years) that the Church should be involved with elections by informing its members about candidates’ positions on the abortion issue and she actively followed his advice. She got involved in the campaigns of pro-life candidates and helped get many of them elected ranging from important state and national reps and senators to governors and presidents

All these efforts and more required countless hours of meetings, phone calling, emailing and leg work to do the Lord’s work. Julie was the definition of pro-life, grassroots activism. Julie, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your many years of loving, dedicated service for the most defenseless among us, God’s precious preborn children, and your efforts to build and sustain a “Culture of Life.” May God have mercy and grant us the victory you have helped earn! Please continue to pray for us!

Submitted by her daughter, Linda Brown

Dr. Frederick George Walz had been a champion for life as long as I can remember. He is the father of seven children, grandfather to 37 and great grandfather to 3. I am his eldest daughter and remember my very first protest with my parents in Albany, New York, when the state legalized abortion one year before Roe V Wade. He passed on his pro-life convictions to all of his children and to this day all seven of us are pro-life. He taught me to defend life and defend the Catholic Church’s teaching on contraception at a young age. He enabled me to challenge my teen peers regarding life issues as well as contraception.

He laid the pro-life foundation in all of his children through family discussions at the dinner table and by his dedication to truth. He was a biochemist and shared with us how blessed he was to have a job he so loved, because it unfolded scientific truths that increased his awe of God the creator, whom he loved so much.

My Dad was pro-life, but more importantly he was pro-eternal life. (I am so grateful to Sr. Deidre Byrne for bringing this idea to the national stage). He was a frequent challenger in his home parish when the issue of abortion was neglected. He participated in the annual flower campaigns at his parish, the gathering of signatures for the annual pro-life ads, he provided the Portage County RTL/RTLNEO newsletters to his parish along with other churches, he was an active member for Portage County RTL, he regularly wrote letters to the editor of his local newspapers, he was a sidewalk witness on a weekly basis in Akron during his later retirement years, he created packets to give to the women considering abortion, he participated in the annual Life Chains, he was my greatest cheerleader in my pro-life work and often attended the Lake County Winter Life Events so that he could hear the speakers and then clean out the huge coffee pots after it was over.

You see, his pro-life convictions were of the humble sort. I do not have pictures or write ups regarding his efforts. Yet, I can tell you that his love for human persons extended beyond the issue of abortion. He ministered to the nursing home residents and was an active force in his parish’s prison ministry. He and my mom were available to numerous people in need of a ride to the doctors, groceries, or plain old companionship.

He had a genuine concern for the welfare of souls. I know that he had a list of people and intentions that took him a while to pray and he did this daily. He showed it to me once. It was tattered and very worn and before he passed away, he shared with me that he did not remember who some of the people were he was praying for, yet he continued in this act of love.

My father did not make the news. He was not well known for his pro-life, pro-eternal life ministries. Yet, he is a model for all of us. He is an unsung hero who defended life at all stages without exception in a very ordinary way. He serves as an example for all of us. We do not have to be well known in our pro-life efforts. We need to be pro-life in the ways of God and according to His plan for us, for His ways are not our ways and my father knew that.

Submitted by his daughter, Jacqui Fetsko