Julie Lickteig

Julie Ann Gnewuch Lickteig, age 72, of Green Lake, WI, passed away at her Green Lake home on May 4, 2012.

Julie Ann was born on October 1, 1939, the daughter of Ted and Helen Lickteig of Cresco, Iowa. On June 12, 1999, she was united in marriage to C. Thomas Gnewuch, PhD. They divided their time between Green Lake and Dillon, Colorado as Julie Ann was an avid skier, hiker and bicyclist.

Julie Ann completed her BS in Dietetics at the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota, her Dietetic Internship at St. Mary’s Hospital/Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and her MS in Educational Administration at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. She was accepted as a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Lambda Theta in recognition of her academic achievement. As a life-long member of the American Dietetic Association, Julie Ann was an active participant in two sub-specialties, the Sports Nutrition and Culinary Practice Groups, speaking at national and regional workshops and conventions. Her professional expertise was recognized when she was accepted as a Fellow of the American Dietetic Association in 1999.

Julie Ann devoted her life to the profession of dietetics. Basing out of Milwaukee, she held positions as a clinical dietitian, directed university and nursing home foodservices, school lunch programs, summer camps, Olympic feeding operations and catering; she was a research collaborator for the US Navy, Army, Department of Agriculture, and the Colorado Altitude Research Institute. As Associate Professor, Julie Ann’s full and part-time teaching at Cardinal Stritch University totaled 36 years. For 14 years she was affiliated part-time with Colorado Mountain College and the Rocky Mountain Culinary Program at Keystone, where she was recognized with an outstanding faculty award. In 2012 she was honored as a 50-year member of the Wisconsin Dietetic Association.

Julie Ann will best be remembered as a pioneer in field research involving nutrition and the logistics of food management at altitude, especially for groups. After 12 years of co-leading backpacking and climbing trips in the US, Julie Ann personally summited Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa and Mt. Kosciusko in Australia, the highest on those two continents. She was affiliated with dietetics on all seven continents, culminating in two expeditionary trips to Mt. Everest, Nepal and one visit on the Tibetan side. Julie Ann planned and organized food and menus for two Alaskan Mt. McKinley climbs, 9 Nepalese/Tibetan Expeditions, and the first Women’s Expedition to the South Pole in 1992-93. As a research member of the “On Top Everest “89” expedition, Julie Ann directed the foodservice at base camp for two and half months.

Known for her food and travel presentations, Julie Ann continued to share her research at sports nutrition workshops, conferences, and through numerous publications in professional journals, books, and magazines. Her alma mater, the College of St. Benedict in Minnesota, honored her with the Distinguished Alumna Award in 1986.

Of great importance to Julie Ann was the time she spent at the family farm in Iowa and with her friends; she loved to cultivate friendships from the time of her boarding school years at Good Counsel Academy, Mankato, Minnesota, college, dietetic internship, and continuing throughout her life with many world-wide contacts.

Julie Ann and her husband Tom were very active in the Green Lake Festival of Music and served as co-chairs of the Friends of the Festival. She organized a memorable weekend trip to Spillville, Iowa, near Cresco where the composer Dvorak spent the summer of 1893. Julie Ann and Tom were honored as Distinguished Friends of the Festival in 2012.

Julie Ann is survived by her husband, Tom Gnewuch of Green Lake, WI; a brother, David Lickteig of Ellensburg, Washington and a nephew, Eric Lickteig of Vail, Colorado. Julie Ann was preceded in death by her mother, Helen (Ptacek) Lickteig in 1998, her father, Theodore Lickteig in 2004 and grandparents, Louis and Frances Ptacek, and Peter H. and Barbara Lickteig.

As Julie Ann donated her body to research at Mayo Clinic, inurnment will occur later at Cresco, Iowa. Private services will be held for family and friends at a later date.

Donations can be made to the Lickteig/Gnewuch Dietetics/Nutrition Scholarship Fund at the College of St. Benedict (37 S. College Ave., St. Joseph, MN 56374) The Mayo Clinic Foundation (200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905), the Sisters of Notre Dame (170 Good Counsel Dr., Mankato, Minnesota 56001-3138), the Norman Borlaug Foundation or the Prairie Springs Trail (c/o Cresco Union Savings Bank, Cresco, Iowa 52136).

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