Julia (nee Hamrick) Fasnacht of Landrum, SC, died peacefully on May 16, 2018, at the age of 88.

She was born in Raleigh, NC on November 8, 1929, to Howard D. Hamrick and Blanche (nee Dellinger) Hamrick. Her parents adopted her cousin, Helen (nee Hamrick) Vickery, after 2 brothers died in infancy. The family moved to Charlotte, NC, and then New Orleans. She began her time as a talented French Horn player there, and fondly remembered practicing her instrument under a tree on the golf course while her father golfed.

Graduating high school at 16, she began college at H. Sophie Newcomb College of Toulane University. After 2 years she transferred to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which she graduated with a music degree in 1950. For 4 summers she was in the college division or on staff of the Interlochen Center for the Arts national music camp, where she played the French Horn solo theme music for the weekly national radio broadcast. Later in life she mostly performed by singing or playing piano, and occasionally church organ, but she always turned up the volume when horn solos came on the radio. During college she began a lifetime of serving as librarian for many music groups. She belonged to the Sigma Alpha Iota professional music sorority.

After college she taught public school music for a year before moving to the Rochester, NY area where she lived for many decades, had 3 children with first husband H.V. McCorkle, Jr., and worked mostly at the Eastman School of Music. Eventually she returned to her beloved Carolinas, settling in the greater Tryon, NC area with her second husband, Richard S Fasnacht, DO, an amateur cellist with whom she shared a love of music. She was a long-time member of the Carolina Community Chorus, the choir and bell choir at The Congregational Church of Tryon, the Foothills Music Club, and the Carolines musical therapy group. For many years she was an entrepreneur with her own business.

She had an inquiring mind and love of learning, particularly loving music, nature (especially birds), folk arts and crafts, and local history. She cultivated her love of music in her children through concert attendance and music lessons, and all three performed extensively when younger. Family outings often included sites of historical significance or natural beauty. For most of her life she enjoyed swimming for fitness. She was also extremely sociable, and within minutes of meeting strangers would know their hometown and the names of their children.

Four devoted aides enabled her to spend her final years in her own home; her husband predeceased her. She is survived by her sister Helen Vickery, 2 nieces, and a nephew;  her 3 children and their spouses: Sandy Kline (Roy Kline), Doug McCorkle (Pam Bolduc), and Brian McCorkle (Gail Steketee); and by 2 grandsons and 1 great-grandson. The family held a private burial. A memorial service will be held at the Congregational Church of Tryon on Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 11:00am, with reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Alzheimer’s research.