She was born Ella June but called herself June. She was the only child of Else Wiik, Norwegian and Harry Arvid Strom, Swede. June, was raised Lutheran among Norwegian relatives in a predominantly Norwegian area of Brooklyn. June's father left when she was very young and her mother then married John Johnsen from Haugesund Norway. This is the man June knew as "Papa".
As a young woman, she met and fell in love with John Joseph Slater, they married in 1941 in Brooklyn. They had two children - Carole and Joyce. Sometime later June and John separated.
After her separation she worked as a waitress in a restaurant in upstate New York. There she met and fell in love with James Russell Lowell Bullock, a blind musician. June and Jim both obtained divorces in Indiana from there spouses and were married on May 14, 1948 in Wayne County, Indiana. They had two children, a son and a daughter. They moved back to NY City and settled in Brooklyn.
In April 1969, June had a severe headache and back pain. It took three months for her many doctors to diagnose that she had a brain aneurysm which burst, sending blood down her spine causing severe pain. She had to quit working, as there were other aneurysms still in her brain. She began praying for a cure and many years later, she was told that all the aneurysms were gone.
June and Jim moved to Pineville, North Carolina with Joyce and her family. Jim died there in 1983. In the mid 1980's, when Joyce's family decided to move to Duarte, California, she went with them. In the late 1980's, after an earthquake, they all decided to move to Colorado Springs, Colorado. They lived there until the mid 1990's when they all moved to Virginia Beach.
June became more forgetful and began having kidney problems and had to be placed in an assisted care facility. Her youngest daughter moved her to Austin, TX in late 2002. Her health, both physical and mental, deteriorated. After twelve shunt operations that failed, June decided to end all dialysis & operations because her quality of life became sleeping & recovering. She had about a month of good quality of life before she died, although her short-term memory was almost non-existent. Near the end, she told her youngest daughter that she should get off the boat before it leaves, because she could not go with her where the boat was headed. She died peacefully on Mother's Day morning, just short of 80 years old. Her family was with her.
Her body was donated to the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Her remains were then cremated and her ashes divided among her surviving children. Her ashes were reunited and then buried in New Mexico, where she attended church while visiting her son.
As a young woman, she met and fell in love with John Joseph Slater, they married in 1941 in Brooklyn. They had two children - Carole and Joyce. Sometime later June and John separated.
After her separation she worked as a waitress in a restaurant in upstate New York. There she met and fell in love with James Russell Lowell Bullock, a blind musician. June and Jim both obtained divorces in Indiana from there spouses and were married on May 14, 1948 in Wayne County, Indiana. They had two children, a son and a daughter. They moved back to NY City and settled in Brooklyn.
In April 1969, June had a severe headache and back pain. It took three months for her many doctors to diagnose that she had a brain aneurysm which burst, sending blood down her spine causing severe pain. She had to quit working, as there were other aneurysms still in her brain. She began praying for a cure and many years later, she was told that all the aneurysms were gone.
June and Jim moved to Pineville, North Carolina with Joyce and her family. Jim died there in 1983. In the mid 1980's, when Joyce's family decided to move to Duarte, California, she went with them. In the late 1980's, after an earthquake, they all decided to move to Colorado Springs, Colorado. They lived there until the mid 1990's when they all moved to Virginia Beach.
June became more forgetful and began having kidney problems and had to be placed in an assisted care facility. Her youngest daughter moved her to Austin, TX in late 2002. Her health, both physical and mental, deteriorated. After twelve shunt operations that failed, June decided to end all dialysis & operations because her quality of life became sleeping & recovering. She had about a month of good quality of life before she died, although her short-term memory was almost non-existent. Near the end, she told her youngest daughter that she should get off the boat before it leaves, because she could not go with her where the boat was headed. She died peacefully on Mother's Day morning, just short of 80 years old. Her family was with her.
Her body was donated to the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Her remains were then cremated and her ashes divided among her surviving children. Her ashes were reunited and then buried in New Mexico, where she attended church while visiting her son.
She was born Ella June but called herself June. She was the only child of Else Wiik, Norwegian and Harry Arvid Strom, Swede. June, was raised Lutheran among Norwegian relatives in a predominantly Norwegian area of Brooklyn. June's father left when she was very young and her mother then married John Johnsen from Haugesund Norway. This is the man June knew as "Papa".
As a young woman, she met and fell in love with John Joseph Slater, they married in 1941 in Brooklyn. They had two children - Carole and Joyce. Sometime later June and John separated.
After her separation she worked as a waitress in a restaurant in upstate New York. There she met and fell in love with James Russell Lowell Bullock, a blind musician. June and Jim both obtained divorces in Indiana from there spouses and were married on May 14, 1948 in Wayne County, Indiana. They had two children, a son and a daughter. They moved back to NY City and settled in Brooklyn.
In April 1969, June had a severe headache and back pain. It took three months for her many doctors to diagnose that she had a brain aneurysm which burst, sending blood down her spine causing severe pain. She had to quit working, as there were other aneurysms still in her brain. She began praying for a cure and many years later, she was told that all the aneurysms were gone.
June and Jim moved to Pineville, North Carolina with Joyce and her family. Jim died there in 1983. In the mid 1980's, when Joyce's family decided to move to Duarte, California, she went with them. In the late 1980's, after an earthquake, they all decided to move to Colorado Springs, Colorado. They lived there until the mid 1990's when they all moved to Virginia Beach.
June became more forgetful and began having kidney problems and had to be placed in an assisted care facility. Her youngest daughter moved her to Austin, TX in late 2002. Her health, both physical and mental, deteriorated. After twelve shunt operations that failed, June decided to end all dialysis & operations because her quality of life became sleeping & recovering. She had about a month of good quality of life before she died, although her short-term memory was almost non-existent. Near the end, she told her youngest daughter that she should get off the boat before it leaves, because she could not go with her where the boat was headed. She died peacefully on Mother's Day morning, just short of 80 years old. Her family was with her.
Her body was donated to the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Her remains were then cremated and her ashes divided among her surviving children. Her ashes were reunited and then buried in New Mexico, where she attended church while visiting her son.
As a young woman, she met and fell in love with John Joseph Slater, they married in 1941 in Brooklyn. They had two children - Carole and Joyce. Sometime later June and John separated.
After her separation she worked as a waitress in a restaurant in upstate New York. There she met and fell in love with James Russell Lowell Bullock, a blind musician. June and Jim both obtained divorces in Indiana from there spouses and were married on May 14, 1948 in Wayne County, Indiana. They had two children, a son and a daughter. They moved back to NY City and settled in Brooklyn.
In April 1969, June had a severe headache and back pain. It took three months for her many doctors to diagnose that she had a brain aneurysm which burst, sending blood down her spine causing severe pain. She had to quit working, as there were other aneurysms still in her brain. She began praying for a cure and many years later, she was told that all the aneurysms were gone.
June and Jim moved to Pineville, North Carolina with Joyce and her family. Jim died there in 1983. In the mid 1980's, when Joyce's family decided to move to Duarte, California, she went with them. In the late 1980's, after an earthquake, they all decided to move to Colorado Springs, Colorado. They lived there until the mid 1990's when they all moved to Virginia Beach.
June became more forgetful and began having kidney problems and had to be placed in an assisted care facility. Her youngest daughter moved her to Austin, TX in late 2002. Her health, both physical and mental, deteriorated. After twelve shunt operations that failed, June decided to end all dialysis & operations because her quality of life became sleeping & recovering. She had about a month of good quality of life before she died, although her short-term memory was almost non-existent. Near the end, she told her youngest daughter that she should get off the boat before it leaves, because she could not go with her where the boat was headed. She died peacefully on Mother's Day morning, just short of 80 years old. Her family was with her.
Her body was donated to the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Her remains were then cremated and her ashes divided among her surviving children. Her ashes were reunited and then buried in New Mexico, where she attended church while visiting her son.
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