June Tucker Thomson

June Marilyn Tucker Thomson died peacefully at her home in Sonoma, California surrounded by family on November 3rd, 2018. She was considered the ultimate Christmas present upon her arrival in December of 1925. Born to childless parents, Leonard Jones Tucker and Mary Agatha Randall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, after sixteen years of marriage, she was truly a prayer answered and remained so her whole lengthy life.

An only child, she was the apple of both her parents' eyes, and they doted upon her considerably. Although spending part of her childhood suffering from various ailments, she grew up to be a strong and mindful person. She was the descendent of two pioneering families of the Kansas territory and was cut from strong genetic cloth.

Her paternal grandparents were Charles L. Tucker, who emigrated from Wedmary, Somersetshire, U.K. via Canada and Anna Jones, descended from Welsh homesteaders around Chicago, Illinois. They ultimately settled in Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas. Her maternal grandparents were Sergeant Thomas Roy Randall, born on a hemp plantation near Louisville, Kentucky, and Belle Wray, who came to Kansas with her parents by Conestoga wagon before the Civil War. Opposing slavery, Thomas fought for the Union and after the war made his way to Beloit, Mitchell County, Kansas where he owned a restaurant and bakery.

June attended both elementary and high school in Oklahoma City, where her father was a pioneering engineer in the original installation of the AT&T long distance lines across the USA. Her mother was a homemaker and her primary caregiver. June showed remarkable musical abilities at an early age and was so sufficiently developed as a pianist that her parents gave her a Chickering baby grand piano for her tenth birthday! She also became a wild film enthusiast at a tender age. She estimated recently that she had seen and reviewed over 10,000 films in her career.

In 1943 she matriculated to Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS where she received her B.A. in Music Education in 1946. She was elected to Mu Phi Epsilon, the music sorority and became a lifelong member. It was there in the Classical Music Appreciation Society that she met and married Dr.Tom Radford Thomson, which allowed them to merge their separate 78 RPM records into one prodigious collection.

Following their graduations, they moved to Alamosa, Colorado where Dr. Thomson was appointed Chairman of the Chemistry Department at Adams State College. It was here they welcomed their five children. During these years she became an adherent of Christian Science, which she practiced for the rest of her life. In 1961 the couple moved again to Scottsdale, Arizona where Dr. Thomson was appointed Professor of Organic Chemistry at Arizona State University and June established her career as a well loved and successful piano instructor.

In 1984 the couple retired to Sonoma, CA to live out a long and active old age. They were members of the Sonoma Valley Grange #407, the Christian Science Church and faithful devotees of the Santa Rosa Symphony. June was predeceased by her husband of seventy-one years in 2017. She is survived by her children, Randi and her husband Ken Story of Richmond, Gina M. of Flagstaff, AZ, Marcus R. T. of Sonoma, Channing L. of San Francisco, Warren L. and his wife Mary Blakley of West Los Angeles and foster son, Eric D. Butler of Bay Village, OH. She is also survived by her three grandchildren, Carlos S. Kronen of San Francisco, Dr. M. Raquel Kronen of Los Angeles, and Harper B. Thomson of West Los Angeles. The family wishes to express its gratitude to June's dedicated caregiver, Rosario Oliver, her physician Dr. Brian Sebastian and Hospice by the Bay. Burial will be private, and a memorial service will be scheduled later. Donations to Pets Lifeline, P.O. Box 341 Sonoma, CA or petslifeline.org are always appreciated.

Friends are invited to the visitation Friday, November 16, 2018 from 10am to 12pm at the Adobe Creek Funeral Home, 331 Lakeville Street, Petaluma, CA. Private family interment, Valley Cemetery, Sonoma, CA.

June December 14, 1925 - Thomson November 3, 2018