Michele Toni DeJulia
Fashion Designer and Boston Terrier Trainer
Michele was born and raised along with her older sister Sharron in Glens Falls, New York, just south of Lake George. Her father owned the local Palace Diner in the center of town and her mother was a nurse, midwife and owner of Bea Havens DeJulia Maternity Home, also in Glens Falls. Michele g
Fashion Designer and Boston Terrier Trainer
Michele was born and raised along with her older sister Sharron in Glens Falls, New York, just south of Lake George. Her father owned the local Palace Diner in the center of town and her mother was a nurse, midwife and owner of Bea Havens DeJulia Maternity Home, also in Glens Falls. Michele graduated Glens Falls High School where she was an honor roll student and swam on the synchronized swim team with her sister. She always loved art and was asked by her swim coach to draw the diagrams for a training book the coach had written. Michele dedicated herself to her career and never married or had children. However, she was very close to her sister’s three children, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren. She was an avid reader of anything dog, art and culture and loved to paint watercolor flowers and gardens.
After graduation, Michele attended Rhode Island School of Design where she graduated with honors and received a fellowship to attend the Royal School of Design in London. She then went on to work in Paris and Italy before returning to continue her career in New York City. She went on to become an award-winning fashion designer with B.H. Wragge, designing high-end women’s evening wear. She was Design Director for Villager Sportswear and President of Design for Good Ladd children’s clothes. Her designs have been published many times in Vogue, the New York Times and other high fashion magazines. Michele retired from the design industry in 2012 at the age of 70.
Michele’s love for Boston Terriers began as a small child in her family home. Her mother had a few Bostons in the house and Michele always dreamed of showing them. In the early 1980s after the passing of her mother, Michele’s sister Sharron gave Michele her first show dog, Beau Brummell. With Michele’s training, Beau achieved his championship and then began Obedience training where he earned Utility Dog. Michele was a great supporter of the Lenape Boston Terrier Club and became very involved with the Tri-Angle Boston Terrier Breeders Club, which honored her with the prestigious Gaines Medal for Good Sportsmanship in 1990.
It was around this time that she met Mary Daily. The two became good friends and travelled to a number of places such as Virginia Beach, Hyannis Port for the Boston Terrier Club of America’s 100th Show, Rhode Island and Vermont. In more recent years, Michele and her sister traveled to numerous shows in many states including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, Maryland, New York and New Jersey. Sharron’s dog, Melvin, was known to come along for the ride and join in the fun!
Michele’s training routines were filled with patience and compassion, resulting in a number of her dogs achieving assorted conformation and obedience titles including Canine Good Citizen. In 1990, Michele’s CH ML’s Cookie Monster UD received an award from the Boston Terrier Club of America for being Top Ten in Obedience. Some of her other accomplishments included winning BOB with CH ML’s Karadin One in A Million ‘Millie’ and High in Trial with ML’s Dyn-O-Mite CD at the Minuteman Boston Terrier Club in 2000. Also, Picadillie’s ‘Sparkle’ achieved UD and Allews’ & Bit-A-Swe’t Grand Illusion ‘Lew’ achieved CD. Most recently she attained titles with Sugar and Smooch in scent work and trick dog, adding to their other titles.
Along with her keen show interests, Michele was an avid collector of Boston Terrier memorabilia. Her extensive collection included old Boston photos, post cards, stud dog cards, as well as cast iron items and figurines.
Dedicated to preserving the breed and making sure her dogs demonstrated perfection in the ring, while contributing greatly to the sport as a whole, Michele will be immensely missed in the Boston Terrier community and beyond.