June Marcus

June Ann Mills was born on February 2, 1941, in Port Orchard, WA; the youngest of three children of Clifford Claude Mills and Elnora Kohler Mills. At the time they lived in Blackjack Valley south of Port Orchard, in an area of small farms owned by families recently immigrated to the area. Her grandparents lived two houses away with extended family living nearby. It was a closely knit community and her childhood was surrounded by relatives, family friends, chickens, cows, dogs, and horses. And it all transpired within view of majestic Mt. Rainier or “my mountain” as she referred to it.

June loved being a “girlie” girl and was involved in Campfire Girls, Rainbow Girls, and dance classes. But the outdoors always beckoned, and she certainly didn't mind getting her hands dirty fishing in Blackjack Creek with her Uncle Lester Mosher or digging for clams on the Hood Canal. June attended local Port Orchard schools, graduating from Marcus Whitman middle school in 1956 and South Kitsap High School on June 4, 1959. Following high school, she completed a secretarial training course. During her junior year in high school, June's mother Elnora also attended classes to complete her own high school degree. (Imagine having your mother walking through the halls at school when you're 16!) While June was obviously proud of her mother's achievement, it really was irksome to have her at school too.

On April 10, 1964, June married Robert “Bob” Marcus in Port Orchard and became both a US Navy wife and the mother to Bob's two sons Michael and Tommy. (Little did she know she was saying “I do” to a marriage that would last 47 years.) Bob's Navy career directed many of their life's adventures; they lived in Bremerton, WA near June's family until late 1965. Then a move to National City/San Diego in California for 8 years. The last Navy move in January 1974 was for 3 1/2 years in Oahu, Hawaii. While in Hawaii, June fine-tuned her bowling skills and lots of trophies testified to her prowess on the lanes. She also served as Mother Advisor for daughter Donna's Rainbow Girls Assembly and loved the years when son Mike and his family lived right next door. It must have felt a bit like her childhood with kids running back and forth between the two households.

When Bob retired in May 1977, the family moved to Greybull, Wyoming where Bob and June lived until 2006 when they moved to Billings. In Greybull, Bob joined the Masonic Lodge allowing June to join Eastern Star. In the early 1980s she served as Worthy Matron in the local Eastern Star chapter and as an advisor for daughter Claudia's assembly of Job's Daughters. It was in Greybull schools that June fine-tuned her cooking skills; she worked for 37 years on the cooking staff and was affectionately known as the “lunch lady”. She loved that job even though it was physically demanding; she knew every child at school and was proud to help feed the students tasty and healthy food. Freshly baked cinnamon rolls??? Who could resist?

It was also in Greybull that June began focusing time and energy to document her family history. In today's world of “everything's online”, finding family can be just a few keystrokes away but when June launched her research career, genealogy required ordering microfilm through the library, waiting weeks for their arrival, and spending hours finally reading the tapes. Research before the internet was an incredible challenge and was not for the faint-hearted. Along the way she learned to decipher records in Danish and German. She loved piecing together information about members of her ever-extending family and she and Bob spent many days traveling the country to visit cemeteries and research libraries. Once the internet arrived, she was on her way to reach back as far as the 16th century to find family roots in Germany. And she wanted to share what she knew. June helped local historians fine-tune their knowledge of the past. She authored articles about Bob's family for a book focused on early families living in Emblem, Wyoming. She was also instrumental in helping restore a small cemetery in Port Orchard where her family and old family friends are buried. She loved every minute of it.

For June, life was all about trying new things and traveling. Whether it was a new recipe, a spikey hair cut, or shooting at a gun range, her view was “let's go.” She quilted, tackled counted cross stitch projects, crafted beaded Christmas ornaments, and designed beautiful porcelain dolls. Once she conquered a new challenge; she was on to something else. Tackling jigsaw puzzles was a preferred challenge for her; 500 pieces or 3,000 pieces, it made no difference. Once the puzzle box opened, everything would remain on the card table until the puzzle was complete. June loved to travel; it didn't matter if it was visiting another country, another state or another town. While Bob was in the Navy, they toured Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Okinawa, Japan. (As the story goes, she barely made it onto the return flight during an approaching typhoon; it took two stout men to help her cross the tarmac to board the plane.) She accompanied Bob on several USS McGuffin ship reunions; including one to New York City. In the late 70's she toured Denmark, Holland, and France. There was a cruise to Alaska, a trip to Hawaii with her friend Faye and sister Verna, and a car trip with Faye across the Blue Ridge Parkway, Great Smokey Mountains and Nashville. Of course, there were countless trips to visit family in the Pacific Northwest, California, Utah, South Dakota, and Kansas. Once they had retired, she and Bob enjoyed long, leisurely weeks of trailer camping in the Big Horn mountains. (Beware creek trout, June is on her way with fishing pole in hand!) After Bob died in 2011, travels continued with a local Senior group. And there were drives with son-in-law Scott to see the wild horses in the Pryor mountains.

June was a woman of deep faith. No matter where she lived, belonging to a congregation was a critical part of her life. Most recently June found her faith community at The Vineyard in Billings. She taught Sunday school for many years and especially loved working with the pre-school crowd. New parents learned that she was a positive, well-experienced influence in their children's lives. It was never the kids who were a challenge, it was always the parents!

June was preceded in death by her husband Bob, siblings Verna Painter and Robert Mills, her parents, and son Tom Marcus. She is survived by her children Claudia (Scott) Griffing, Donna (Kelly) Smith, Danny (Linda) Marcus, Michael (Vicky) Marcus and daughter-in-law Judy Marcus. June will be dearly missed by those whose lives she touched including her extended family; sister-in-law Kinue Mills, 13 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, 12 great-great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, as well as numerous friends who became part of her family of choice.

The specifics for a celebration of life will be held in the spring of 2025.

June's family suggests that any memorial donations be made to Heifer International. She always loved the idea of helping families become food secure. To donate specifically in June's memory, please call Heifer directly at 1-855-948-6437. Otherwise, simply review animal donation options at https://www.heifer.org/gift-catalog/index.html (please copy and paste url into your browser)