Viola Helen June

1932 - 2020

Viola Helen June, 88 years old, died in Thornton while in the care of family Aug. 15. She resided at San Marino Assisted Living, Westminster.
Born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, July 20, 1932, Vi was a graduate of Sauk Centre High School, Sauk Centre, Minnesota, in 1950 and attended St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, in 1951.
Survivors include sisters, Stella Carroll, Lois Johnson and Lillian Kettler; four daughters, Karen Pilgrim (Mark), Nancy White (Bill), Mary June (Bryan Belisle) and Katey Crowley (Jim); son, Dan June (Susie); 10 grandchildren, Ann, Daniel, David, Emily, Kinga (Brian), Ryan (Jess), Evan (Heather), Dane (Adrian), and Jessica; and six great-grandchildren, Allyson, Kayla, Caleb, Micah, Zofia, and Juliusz.
Her parents, Bill and Lucy Beste; brothers, Ray, Wilfred and Clarence; sister, Evelyn; son, Davey June; and granddaughter, Erin Crowley, preceded her in death.
Vi's earthly journey began in the small rural farming town of Sauk Centre with parents, three brothers and four sisters. The order of the day was hard work and fun. There were plenty of chores to go around and plenty of jokes to be played on one another. She recalled her brothers ditching her once in the middle of a corn field and having to find her way back home; they thought it was funny, but she didn't. She was deathly afraid of the family's dairy bull, "King," that her father had on the farm. One night, King got loose in a terrible storm. As she was staring out the window into the darkness, lightning lit up the sky. And who was on the other side of the window looking at her? King.
When she was 14, she decided to take the brand-new Buick family car for a spin by herself. Her father noticed the car down below a pasture he was plowing and asked her about the incident that evening. Because she was so careful with the car and did not deny driving it, her father decided she should receive her driver's license and help drive the kids to school.
Not long after Vi attended St. Cloud State University as a freshman, she decided to follow her sister, Evelyn, to Denver, where they both worked at Gates Rubber Co. At an outdoor concert at Cheesman Park with Evelyn, she met a young man who was, at the time, stationed at Lowry Air Force Base, Bob June. They in Denver July 16, 1954. They celebrated 60 years of marriage prior to Bob's passing in 2014.
Beginning their family in December 1954, Vi jokingly would say she was constantly pregnant giving birth to six children in eight years, and she would kid with her doctor to let her stay in the hospital for some additional rest. Daughter Karen recalled her mother wanting to help plan her wedding. Karen yielded the reception responsibility to her but wanted to pick her dress out herself. After becoming discouraged with not being able to find a dress to her liking, her Mom piped up and said she had found the perfect dress and had it set aside at a store for her. Karen, not being too happy about the arrangements, begrudgingly went to look at the dress and found it to be perfect – "exactly what I was looking for." Karen said "Sometimes, Mother does know best."
Daughter Nancy recalled, as a young girl, her Mom rushing her to the emergency room due to a puncture wound to her leg. When they got out of the car, Mom tried to pick her up. All of the contents of her purse spilled out all over the pavement. They both laughed out loud as they picked all of the items up and headed for ER.
Son Dan remembers his mother also wanting to help in his wedding plans and it was decided that she could take care of putting together the music. To everybody's surprise but his mother's, a three-piece polka band showed up. The liveliest tune played that evening was "Proud Mary." She loved on her children/grandchildren/great-grandchildren and attended events all throughout their growing-up years.
Vi's political leanings began as a young mother in a Westminster neighborhood where she attended a Westminster City Council meeting and pleaded to have a light installed at a crosswalk due to the many near-misses with young children. Well, as the story goes, her persistence paid off, and the light was eventually installed. She was first elected to council in 1965 after having been discouraged to "stay home and raise your five children." She simply proceeded to outwork her opponents and walk the campaign trail longer than others. When the results were tallied, she had compiled more votes than any other male candidate and, thus, began her political career.
Mary recalls licking stamps, stuffing envelopes and knocking on a lot of doors for Mom's elections. She also recalls her and the other kids being taken out of school at times to go to each of the polling places and then off to Adams County to watch the election results come in.
Vi was on the city council from 1965 -1981. She was elected mayor in 1975 and held that position until 1981. Vi went on to also serve as the Colorado state representative for House District 35 from 1990-1998. She loved serving her state and made many close friends on both sides of the aisle. Daughter Katey said it well. "She was known for her ability to get things done, being a great listener, acting with fairness and with a high degree of integrity."
Vi also had a longtime journalism career. This began in 1963, working as a part-time reporter for the Adams County Dispatch. From 1982 to 1988, she was the publisher for the Sentinel newspapers in Westminster, Northglenn Commerce City, the Broomfield Enterprise, the Brighton Blade and the Fort Lupton Press.
Vi would often tell a story of an event that occurred early in her journalism career. Her editor at the time was hungry for a good story for the next publication and was impatient with his staff about it, which included Vi. The next paper was due to print April 1, so Vi and two other staff members thought they would simply concoct a big story, since it was going to be an April Fool's Day publication. They printed a story called, "The Spruce Goose Lands on Standley Lake." Well everyone knows this is impossible right? The Howard Hughes-designed, all-wooden plane barely got airborne on its maiden flight and never flew again.
Here is where the problem began for the paper. The phone began to ring with people saying, "Yep, I saw it land along with a colonel from Buckley Air Force Base saying he saw it take off." Needless to say, the paper was in a pickle and had to divulge that this story was simply an April Fools story and that the Spruce Goose never had landed at Standley Lake. Vi had a lot of laughs about that one.
Vi's interests and hobbies were reading, sewing, playing the slots at Central City, playing the card game Minnesota 500, having lively debates about politics/current events and tanning. Yes, all of her children said tanning was at the top of what Mom wanted to do, "We could always find her on the south side of the house in her bikini with her sun tan oil, towel and on her chaise lounge.:
After losing her husband, Bob, of 60 years, Vi moved to San Marino in Westminster. She was contacted shortly thereafter by John Horan of Horan and McConaty about promoting family planning. To all of the family's surprise, Grandma began to show up on billboards in and around the Denver metro area. Her rock star status just continued on. She lived her last years at San Marino in Westminster after leaving her longtime home where she proudly raised her children. Daughter Katey said, "When Mom moved to San Marino, I was able to relax and visit more with her. We both liked to listen to country music while at Mom's apartment. As time wore on, Merle Haggard's song 'Okie from Muskogee' was our personal favorite. We'd both get up and dance."

Work/career accomplishments:
1952-54: Gates Rubber Co.
1963-65: Adams County Dispatch
1965-81: Westminster City Council /mayor 1975-81
1982-88: Publisher for Sentinel Newspapers (wrote more than 2,000 columns for Sentinel newspapers under Agony and Ecstasy, Reckonings and Amen "So Shall it Be")
1990-98: Colorado State House of Representatives House District 35

Organizational Involvement
Board of directors, Adams County Mental Health
Board of directors, First National Bank of Westminster
Metro North Chamber of Commerce
Urban Drainage and Flood Control
Metro Sewer District
Downtown Westminster Redevelopment Committee
Wheat Ridge Rotary (first woman member)
Charter member and past officer for the Westminster Progressive Homeowners Association
North Suburban Board of Realtors
Adams County Jail: Steering Committee
Task force for proposal of new Adams County Courthouse

An open visitation in Vi's honor will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27, and from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 28, at Horan and McConaty Family Chapel, 7577 W. 80th Ave., Arvada. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Vi's name to the Little Sisters of the Poor, 3629 W. 29th Ave., Denver 80211; the Westminster Legacy Foundation, 4800 W. 92nd Ave., Westminster 80031; or the charity of your choice.