June Ekstrom Bennett

June Ekstrom Bennett passed away peacefully at her home at age 94 on Saturday November 4th, 2023, surrounded by her family and friends. June was born on December 4, 1928 in Oakland, California to Erik and Ellen Ekstrom, immigrants of Sweden and Denmark. She had an idyllic life growing up in Oakland with her sister Helen. They had orange and lemon trees, a playhouse, a swing, and a cherry tree to climb in the backyard. They would regularly play on the tennis court in the lot next door. June went to Oakland High School two years behind Clint Eastwood. She loved reading, swimming, and diving. In the summers, the family would vacation in Yosemite and she would lifeguard at Mills College.
June attended Reed College in 1946, in Portland, Oregon where she was a journalist for the school newspaper. While attending Reed, June met Eleanor Roosevelt at a tea when Mrs. Roosevelt came to visit her granddaughter at the college. She met Forrest Bennett at Reed, whom she married in 1949. They had ten children and lived in Portland, where Forrest had a family medical practice. They were later divorced and June bought her dream home in Milwaukie. She worked many happy years at Aurora Aviation as office manager, a job she loved. At Aurora, all who interacted with her loved her and she made many friends; she often took fun trips to Mexico and other places. She loved literature and the arts. In 1969, she entered a poetry contest and won a brand new Ford Mustang!
When she retired, she spent many happy years in her beautiful home with its tropical garden that she planted and tended; she would relax and read by her fireplace. She had a true 'green thumb' for outdoor and house plants. Her many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren mostly lived nearby and visited often. June was extremely clever, patient, hard-working, organized, thoughtful, fair, kind, and had an excellent sense of humor. She led a life well lived!
June is preceded in death by her sister Helen; children Linda and Julie; grandson Jake; and sons-in-law Doug and Jay; and grandson in law Shane. She is survived by children Laura (Mark), Ron (Julie), Diane, Rebecca (Mike), Bruce (Leann), Sandra (Randy), Jan (David), and Amy (Don); grandchildren Ben, Ari, Joshua, Jennica, Colton, Kelsey, Edward, Andrew, Emelia, Erik, Taylor, Nicole, Jess, Mikki, and Melissa; and great grandchildren Nora, Atlas, Savannah, Scott, Keoni, Audrey, Austin, Sydney, Jayden, Ellen, Ruben, Edwyn, Eli, Quinn, Omni, Michael, Olivia, Skyla, and Onnahlei. And great-great grandchildren Caleb, Carter and Paige.
A Memorial service will be held at Columbia Aviation Association at the Aurora Airport on Sunday, December 3, 2023. A private burial will be held at Lincoln Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Meals on Wheels, Planned Parenthood, or Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Sunnyside Little Chapel of the Chimes & Memorial Gardens