June Johnson

1927 - 2022

June Swanton Johnson (age 95) died peacefully surrounded by her family on July 8, 2022 following a short illness. June received superb care and loving support through her final days and hours from the staff of Seabury Skilled Nursing, where she had resided for many years. June was born June Jacobsen on May 11,1927 in Portland, Maine to Heinrich and Effie (Ball) Jacobsen. Her mother died when she was a baby and due to difficult family circumstances during the depression, she was later adopted by Henry and Lillian Pearl Swanton also of Portland, who became her legal parents. June graduated from Deering High School in Portland in 1944 and from the University of Maine at Orono in 1948, majoring in Speech and Chemistry. She planned to pursue the path of a research chemist, but met the love of her life, Evan Johnson and decided on a career in teaching which, in 1948, was more compatible with marriage and family life. It turned out to be a fortuitous choice. In teaching, she found her vocation in the truest sense of the word. June went on to obtain a Masters Degree in Education from Springfield College in MA and choosing the field of biology, studied further at Harvard, MIT and Holy Cross, as she rigorously stayed current with the rapid changes in this field. She became a master teacher, whose particular passion and expertise was genetics. June's 30 year teaching career included high schools in ME and MA with the last 19 years being spent teaching Biology at Brockton High School in Brockton, MA. After retirement from public school teaching, June and Evan moved to Westport, MA where their home had a glorious view of the Westport River. Family members and countless friends and colleagues were blessed to spend time there enjoying June and Evan's generous hospitality. During this time June attended the Guild for Spiritual Guidance in Rye NY studying particularly the works of Teilhard de Chardin. This interest led to her teaching classes on the spirituality of aging. June was an active member of the Methodist Church since childhood. Given her scientific knowledge and inquiring mind she had an expansive understanding of spirituality, not containing God to any gender or particular religious framework. In Westport, June's concern for the environment prompted her to work for many years testing for e Coli in the waters of the Westport River and to serve on the Board of the Watershed Alliance. She was also a member of the Council on Aging in Westport with which she continued her commitment to teaching, leading exercise classes for the prevention of osteoporosis. As a member of the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement, June taught courses in basic genetics and related ethical choices for several years. She was a voracious learner and this commitment to life-long education led her to serve on the founding committee of an institute of learning in retirement at UMASS Dartmouth. When June and Evan moved to CT in 2007 to live at Seabury in Bloomfield, June continued these interests by serving in the leadership of and teaching courses in the Adult Learning Program (ALP) associated with UCONN. Additionally, she chaired and participated in the Seabury Health Services Committee for many years and managed a health publications section for the Seabury Library. June had a remarkable ability to connect with people and nurture lifelong friendships. Even at 95 she was exchanging Christmas cards with over a hundred people including former students. She also had an adventurous side. Lest one think that June's lifelong learning was only academic, she took up scuba diving at age 50, overcoming a lifelong fear of the water. She traveled extensively throughout her life, particularly in the years after her retirement, often participating in Elderhostel/Road Scholar programs. June's husband of 62 years, The Rev. Dr. Evan Johnson was an ordained minister in the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church. They were both deeply committed to social justice causes within this framework and beyond and were members of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. June is survived by two daughters, Kathryn J. Johnson of Washington, DC, and Karen Johnson Sprout (and her spouse Howard Sprout) of Bloomfield; two grandchildren, Joanna Sprout Engel of West Hartford, CT (and her spouse Miriam Engel) and Lily G. Johnson of Portland, Oregon; and three nephews, David, George and Peter Ward from Portland, ME. A Memorial Service will be held at 2 pm on Thursday, July 21, 2022 in the Bishops Chapel at Seabury, 200 Seabury Drive, Bloomfield, CT 06002. Donations in June's memory can be made to the Seabury Charitable Foundation at the same address and/or the Preacher's Aid Society, 51 Charles Wesley Ct., Wells, ME 04090. June's ashes will be interred at Beech Grove Cemetery in Westport, MA at a future date. For online condolences please visit, www.carmonfuneralhome.com.