June Ramey

June Ramey Died Wednesday, February 8, 2006, after a valiant struggle with Alzheimer's. June, who was predeceased by her husband of 52 years, Frank B. Ramey, died at home in SF, where she moved 10 months ago to live with her daughter Joanna. During the 1940s, June had lived on Nob Hill in San Francisco, when she worked as a flight attendant for Pan American. Born June Krenzer, Jan. 1, 1920, in New Castle, IN, she was an air travel pioneer with her identical twin, Joanna Krenzer Brown, who died in 1995 in Washington, D.C. They were among the first wave of female flight attendants. Before taking to the air, June and her twin, Joanna, briefly worked as secretaries in the U.S. Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua. June first flew for TACA airlines, based in San Jose, Costa Rica. During that time, she appeared in the October 1946 National Geographic in an article on Costa Rica. The photos were taken by the late, famed Geographic Photographer Luis Marden. June embarked on countless flights on propeller planes throughout the Far East and Latin America. On February 27, 1948, she was on board and helped to successfully evacuate a DC Clipper bound for Calcutta that crashed after takeoff at San Francisco Airport. Before returning to SF, June lived on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with her husband for more than 20 years. After raising two daughters, June worked as an executive secretary at Tiffany and Co. in New York City, then briefly in Congress. During her retirement in Washington, D.C. , she volunteered extensively, including with the National Gallery, Kennedy Center and National Cathedral. Survivors include her daughters Joanna Ramey Orchard, of SF, and Brooke Ramey Nelson, of Vienna, VA; and two granddaughters, Chrissie and Katie Nelson. Services are pending. June's ashes will be interred with her husband's at Arlington National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her name to the Institute on Aging, Swindell Center, 3600 Geary Blvd., SF, CA, 94118, Attn. Christine Roppo.