Julia Frances (Money) Heflin, 96, died Friday, May 19, 2023, at Ashford Place Health Campus in Shelbyville.

Julia was a farm wife, a loving mother and baker of the best apple pies for miles around. For many years, she was also a beloved kindergarten school secretary for Shelbyville Central Schools. Julia loved to bake and cook for her family, especially Sunday dinners and holiday meals. She enjoyed road trips, reading, collecting recipes and watching professional tennis. Most of all, she enjoyed living.

Julia was born Jan. 18, 1927, in Shelby County to Bertha and Glen Money. In 1944, she graduated from Mount Auburn High School, where she was class president. She married James Lawson "Bud" Heflin Feb. 28, 1948, at the Methodist Church in Shelbyville. For more than 60 years, they lived and worked on a farm in southwestern Shelby County, where they raised three children, as well as cattle and pigs and thousands of bushels of corn, wheat and soybeans.  In 2013, they moved to Ashford Place in Shelbyville. Bud died in 2017.

Julia was a member of Jollity United Methodist and more recently attended First Christian Church in Shelbyville, where she and Bud sang in the choir.

Survivors include three children, James Lawson Heflin Jr. (wife Lynda) of Greensburg; Cynthia Heflin Pelo (husband Rodger Pelo) of Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Frank Lee Heflin of Athens, Ga.; six grandchildren, Tricia Gehl of Greensburg (husband Carl); Katrina Broughton of Ada, Mich. (husband Justinian); Sarah Katz of Highland Park, Ill. (husband Adam); Aaron Pelo of Ferndale, Mich.; Lauren Heflin, of Atlanta, Ga.; and Sam Heflin of Atlanta, Ga.; five great-grandchildren, and a sister Joyce Fort of Peachtree City, Ga.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and a sister, Mary Isabel Howell of Chico, Calif.

Visitation will be Tuesday, May 23, at Murphy-Parks Funeral Service, 703 S. Harrison St., Shelbyville, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Wednesday, May 24, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. with a funeral service immediately following.