Julia Shelburne Cabanas

December 28, 1948 - January 24, 2022

Julia Shelburne Cabanas, 73, of Coxsackie, New York, passed away peacefully on January 24, 2022, at Albany Medical Center with her family by her side. Julia was born on December 28, 1948, in St Louis, Missouri. She was the only child of William Jackson Shelburne, Jr., and Ethel Dixon Meredith. Julia spent her formative years traveling the world while spending her summers in Wyoming riding her beloved horse Princess and exploring the mountains. In 1965 she graduated from Choate Rosemary preparatory school in Wallingford, Connecticut. In 1967 she earned a degree in secretarial arts from Colby Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire. On a summer trip to Mexico to visit her Father, Julia met her future husband, Javier Cabanas. They wed in Puebla, Mexico, on July 29, 1969. They moved to Mount Kisco, New York, where their daughter Emma, later was born. They eventually settled in Katonah, where daughters Bess and Julie were born. Julia pioneered working from home when she started her own successful business as a typesetter. Working from home, she balanced her career and motherhood. She was most proud of her daughters and considered them to be her greatest accomplishment. In 1986, the family relocated to LaGrangeville and Julia worked various jobs before becoming a secretary at the Dutchess County Department of Health. She retired in 2016 and moved to Coxsackie, New York. Julia was unapologetically true to herself and her beliefs, and taught her daughters and grandchildren to be the same. She was an avid gardener and passionate for wildlife. Julia is survived by her husband of 52 years, Javier, her three daughters Emma Buono (Anthony) of Valatie, Bess Rodgers (Donald) of Coxsackie, and Julie Miller (Scott) of Athens, as well as her grandchildren Taylor, Brooke and Jordan Miller, Emily, Meredith and Matthew Buono, and Elizabeth and John (“JT”) Rodgers. Services will be held at Richards Funeral Home, 28 North Vernon Street, Athens, N.Y., 12015, on Tuesday, February 8, 2022, from 3:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. Services will be held the same day at the funeral home at 4:45 P.M. Wearing of face masks will be required to be worn at all times while at the funeral home, regardless of vaccination status and for those unvaccinated. Burial will be at the convenience of the family. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the World Wildlife Fund.