June Craton Gallagher was born November 18, 1929 in Oxford, Alabama and passed away peacefully at the age of 92 on May 14, 2022 in Wilmington, N.C.
June began a career as a singer, pianist, and organist, which landed her a radio show at the ripe old age of 6. She was a natural born performer with a magnetic personality and a rare gift for playing any tune after hearing it only once. She studied voice/music at Jacksonville State University, Birmingham Music Conservatory and Belmont Abbey College, and sang lead roles in numerous operettas. June played and sang with a rare ease, eloquence, and versatility.
She was in high demand as a professional musician and entertainer, working with greats like Tony Bennett, Mel Tormé, and Dinah Shore, even hosting a television program with Dick Van Dyke. She also performed regularly for USO shows at Fort McClellan, Alabama, during WWII in support of our troops. June entertained countless audiences while traveling the United States and Canada under contract with MCA Artists Management; she met her future husband, the late Edward Felix “Buddy” Gallagher III while working in Atlanta. From then on, wherever she worked, a dozen roses were waiting for her, and she was swept off her feet. The two quickly fell in love and, even though June's career was continuing to soar, she was ready to get off the road and start a family.
The couple were married at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NYC but raised their four children in Charlotte and Gastonia, North Carolina. June continued to entertain family, friends, and, over the years, scores of her husband’s associates in the family business, Good Will Publishers. June was active in the Charlotte Opera Association, the Heart Association, was the founder of the Magnolia Garden Club and active in the Girl Scouts, among numerous other charitable organizations. She played and sang at her church and introduced the parishioners to the Beaumont jazz mass.
June provided a welcoming and cheerful environment for all who visited her Gastonia home. Whether it was encouraging the kids to hold talent contests, making her famous chicken salad, or allowing her son and friends to hold rock band practices in the living room, there were always wonderful expressions of creativity in the home. June enjoyed a long and independent life in Gastonia, but eventually moved in with her daughter, Barbara, and family, in Wilmington, NC where she enjoyed performing in the Olde Wilmington Candlelight Tours, Festival of Trees (to benefit Hospice), Ferrovia Restaurant, and area nursing homes.
Shortly before her death, June’s loving caregiver assisted her to the piano where she recorded June's last heartfelt performance. As June took her last breath at the Lower Cape Fear Hospice facility, she had been listening to recordings of her old friends and colleagues, Dinah Shore and Mel Tormé. She is now reunited with her heavenly Father, with her husband, and many loved ones, and is most certainly singing and playing with the stars. The family wishes to thank Lower Cape Fear LifeCare for their kindness to June in her last days.
June was pre-deceased by her father, Joseph Brown Craton, mother, Ruby Pettus Craton, brother, William Paul Craton, and numerous other Craton family members. She was pre-deceased by husband, Edward F. Gallagher III, and daughter, Lisa LaVerne Gallagher.
She is survived by her son, MCPO Edward F. Gallagher IV, USN, (ret) (Scottie); daughters, Barbara June Gallagher Ferreri (Ernesto) and Susan Lea Gallagher Jahna (James "Jimbo"); grandchildren, Lt Col Edward F. “Quinn” Gallagher V, USAF; Megan Elizabeth Hagler (M.L.); Caroline Lea Jahna Sutton (Sid); James "Bo" Jahna Jr. (Bri); Meredith Lisa Ferreri; Melanie June Ferreri; great-grandchildren, Peyton Hagler; Tommy and Patrick Gallagher; Hayes and Harper Sutton; and many extended family members.
A Graveside Service will take place on Wednesday, June 15 at 11:00 AM at the Belmont Abbey Cemetery in Belmont, N.C. followed by a reception in Haid Auditorium on the campus of Belmont Abbey College. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorials in her honor be made to the Basilica of St. Mary, 412 Ann Street, Wilmington, N.C. 28401 or Fifth Ave. United Methodist Church, 409 S. 5th Ave., Wilmington, N.C. 28401.
Arrangements by Andrews Mortuary in Wilmington, NC and McLean Funeral Directors in Belmont, NC. To share a memory of June or send a condolence to her family please visit www.andrewsmortuary.com.
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