JUNE GIFFORD

GIFFORD--June Henry. 92, surprised us all Tuesday, August 11, when she left the body that had been holding her back for many years. A fiercely energetic life- embracer, June was an actress, model, and theater producer, acting into her thirties while creating a family with husband Hazen, sons Chris and Paul and a series of beloved cats. She found great achievement and joy as a theatrical agent, running her own business for many years in the 1980s. June's most satisfying work experience came from her time counseling young women and their kids, returning to her home borough of the Bronx every day to work at Women in Need. June suffered chronic hip knee and joint pain from her early 40s, which slowed her down but could not stop her determination and spirit. She continued to travel and attend concerts and theater with her friends, children, or grandchildren, often remarking how happy she was to get such good seats thanks to wheelchair priority seating. In her final years, she could be seen posing throughout the city in photos taken by her aide and good friend Marie Ambroise. She was an inventive and talented cook, improvising wonderful meals, enjoyed most of all by Hazen, who adored and marveled at his luck in finding her. She spoke every day to her sons, either by phone or at the Peter Cooper apartment she lived in for 56 years. At the end, she refused treatment for cancer, preferring to stay at home and, after seeing her grandchildren Katie and Henry and daughters-in-law Susan and Annette, June passed away peacefully. We are heartbroken but know that it was her time and feel so lucky to have had so much of it with her. Donations in her memory may be made to Women in Need.