From Dale Miller, dear friend and neighbor:
Friend: a person whom you like and trust; who likes and trust you in return.
June was so much more than that to me. We were friends from the first day we met, and we never looked back. Here we are some forty odd years later, and friend doesn’t fit anymore. We are so much more than just friends.
It’s difficult to find the right words to share with you on how much I cared about June. There is this huge hole in my heart, and all the right words seem to be tied to June’s heart from mine. The words are missing at the moment, but I know they’ll return with all the fond memories I have of her. Only time is needed.
We didn’t always agree on everything, but that never interfered with our respect for each other and/or our friendship. June was my coffee mate. She’d call, or I would ask if the coffee water was hot. It always was. We’d start talking and soon realize it was suppertime. She would run home and start cooking. She would come back the next day, and we’d start right where we left off. I’m sure going to miss our coffee breaks.
June and Jim are the comfortable people. No matter what was happening, when you entered their home you always felt comfortable, welcomed, relaxed and loved. Think of slipping into your most loved pair of slippers and going ah! That’s how it always felt upon entering and leaving their home.
June was a worrier! She worried about everything and everybody before herself. She would spend hours fixing her hair and makeup. She worried if she was a good wife, mom, friend, neighbor and grandma. If friends or family were coming to dinner, she worried if she had cooked enough food. “Did it taste okay?” she would ask. Of course, it always did; she cooked it, didn’t she?
She worried about the house being clean. I wonder how many of us washed our windows twice a year. How many of us cleaned our ceilings with a damn toothbrush, or scrubbed a floor with a toothbrush.
Throughout the years, June persevered through so many physical hardships. Very seldom, if ever, did you hear her say she couldn’t do something. She always found the strength to carry on, putting me to shame for sure. If June was in pain, I listened carefully because she seldom gave in to pain, and I knew it meant she was in trouble always. We know now that she is not in pain, and she would want us to carry on as she has always doneand, we will.
We extend our deepest sympathy to the entire Russell family, siblings and friends. May you always smile when you think of a very dear friend because that is exactly what she would want you to do.
Love, Dale
December 29, 2020