Julie Lynette (Green) Dandoy

Julie Lynette (Green) Dandoy, 63, of Butler passed away Thursday at VNA Inpatient Hospice with family and friends by her side.

She was born May 6, 1954, in Butler, and was the daughter of the late Floyd Peter Green and Evelyn Jane (Hilovsky) Green.

Julie was a 1972 graduate of Butler High School, a 1974 graduate of Butler County Community College and a 1976 graduate of Slippery Rock University (Slippery Rock State College). For 32 years, from 1976 to 2009, she was an elementary and special education teacher for the Butler School District.

During that time, she was a member of Butler Education Association, National Council of Teachers of English, and Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English and Language Arts. She was a recipient of numerous awards for excellence in teaching, including the United Way Red Apple Award in 2009.

She led and worked on several initiatives in the Butler Area Schools including the Lead Teacher Program, served as a mentor to numerous new teachers, championed literacy and reading programs and instituted the multi-age grouping around interest clusters at Emily Brittain Elementary.

She introduced numerous generations of students to the works of William Shakespeare through productions of his plays done in her elementary classroom. She also was deeply committed to science and environmental education and created a nature habitat garden at Emily Brittain Elementary, which was maintained by students, parents and teachers.

Gardening was her passion. She was a certified master gardener through the Penn State Extension and member of the Butler Garden Club.

She was chair and member of the Shade Tree Commission for the City of Butler. Under her leadership, planters were placed up and down the sidewalks of Main Street, as well as in the West New Castle Street Plaza and hanging flower baskets were placed on light poles.

One of her best known projects was the Big Spring Clean and Great Fall Clean Up when she organized dozens of volunteers to clean the sidewalks, trim trees, weed and plant flowers on Main Street and around the Butler City Building and the public safety building.

She co-chaired the committee and worked with fellow Garden Club members and master gardeners on the Western PA Conservancy Flower Garden at the junction of Routes 8 and 422. She also recently supervised the landscaping and planting at the Becky Smith Memorial Garden at the Little Red School House.

She served on the Butler Library Board, specifically the building and grounds committee and helped manage and supervise the renovation of the outside courtyard.

She was a member of Butler Little Theatre, Musical Theater Guild of Butler and Greater Federation of Women's Clubs.

In 2012, she received the Soroptimist Ruby Award for Women Helping Women.

For more than 40 years, she led aerobic and yoga classes through several organizations and initiatives including the Butler Area Schools Wellness Program and the St. Peter Roman Catholic Church Wellness Program.

She was a member of St. Peter Roman Catholic Church, where she served as a Eucharistic minister.

Over the years, she shared all of her interests and passions with her children, grandchildren, friends, family, students and co-workers.

She is survived by her husband, Robert Dandoy of Butler; one daughter, Jessica (Dandoy) Matonak, and her husband, Dirk, of Butler; one son, Justin Dandoy, and his wife, Correy (Robertson) of Carnegie, Pa.; two grandchildren, Eden Matonak and Van Matonak; her mother, Evelyn (Hilovsky) Green; four brothers, Marty (Gerri) Green of New Castle, Calif., Michael (Florence) Green of Slippery Rock, Chris (Noelle) Green of New Castle, and Doug (Stephanie) Green of Butler; two sisters: Kelly (Bob) Bower and Alisa Green; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her father, Floyd Peter Green.

The family encourages friends to make memorial donations, particularly donations of time, to nonprofit charities of their choosing.

DANDOY — Visitation hours for Julie Lynette (Green) Dandoy, who died Thursday, March 22, 2018, are from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Geibel Funeral Home, 201 E. Cunningham St., Butler.Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Peters Roman Catholic Church, 127 Franklin St., Butler.For more information or to leave an online condolence, please visit www.geibelfuneralhome.com.