Grandma June

CAUTION: This post is extremely long and may be boring to some. I will not be offended if you don't read it. This is just for me.

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Sorry I am a few days late posting, but I wanted to get some good pictures first. My Grandma June passed away last month, May 9th 2009. I spoke at her funeral so I was able to think a lot about my memories of her. I figured since I had so much written down about her I should put it in my own records for a little family history. I wish that I had talked to her more about her life before she started to lose her memory but she was a pretty humble person and didn't like to talk about her self, so I will just write what I do know.

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My Grandma was born in Beaver, Utah on June 1, 1928. Her full name was June Louise Gillies Stephenson. Her parents were Bill and Irene Gillies. She was the oldest of three. She was the only girl and had two younger brothers Scrib and Lee. I believe that her dad had some land that he had horses and cows on in Beaver but I think that for most of his life he worked at the cheese factory in Beaver (sorry I'm a little unclear on those details). Her dad was a great gardener and her mom was the most amazing seamstress.

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. My Grandma June's baby pictures.

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. My Grandma and My Grandma June with her little brother Scrib. . .

This is my Grandma when she was four years old. When we first found this picture we all thought that it was my Grandma's niece (Scrib's daughter) Jana, because they look so much alike. I think that she also looks a lot like her other niece Ginger in this picture. Apparently Gillies genes are strong. This picture was taken in 1933. I love the freckles! .

. I don't really know anything about My Grandma's childhood except that it happened in Beaver and that she grew up in a beautiful house with a huge and beautiful yard. When we went through her scrap books we found all of her old report cards. She was a good student that the teachers loved. On one report card a teacher wrote, "June is a teacher's delight in all areas." She graduated from Beaver High. I know that this picture was taken when she was 18 so this must have been her senior picture. . .

I'm not sure of the time line on these events but I believe that after graduating from high school my grandma moved from Beaver to Cedar and moved into a house owned by Beth Leigh. She roomed with Fern Hunter and Barbara Adams (they weren't married then but I don't know their maiden names) and they became life long friends. When my grandma was living in Cedar (I'm not sure if this was when she lived with her friends or not) her brother Scrib's wife was killed in a car accident. My grandma moved back to Beaver to help her parents and brother take care of his two children Jana and Brad. She became very close to them and was their favorite aunt. She loved them like they were her own kids. Also sometime around this time her youngest brother Lee was also killed in a car accident.

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My Grandma moved back to Cedar where she meet my Grandpa Norman Harold Stephenson. She was introduced to him by her boss, Bob Linford. My Grandpa had three children Linda, Tom, and Michelle from his first marriage. We found a letter that my grandpa had written to my grandma while they were datin that asked her if she would take the bus up to see him. He apologized for being forward and he promised to make it up to her. I wonder if she went. But it was very cute. They got married in 1960 in Vegas. .

My Grandpa Norm and My Grandma June on Christmas of 1961 in Beaver. I am pretty sure that we have that exact same couch in our front room right now.

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In 1962 my dad was born. They lived on Kayenta circle (where Dustin's dad grew up) and they moved a few times before they settled in the house where my dad grew up and where we live now. My grandpa Norm ran the Chevron station on Main Street in Cedar. A funny fact is that my mom grew up in the house next door to the station. We have old home movies from my mom's family that have my dad's dad in them. He would just come over to talk. So I have one movie with both of my grandpas in it that was filmed before my parents were even born!

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Tom, My dad, Michelle, Grandma June, and Linda

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My grandma was no stranger to tragedy. When my dad was only eight my grandpa died from complications from a brain tumor. My grandma raised all four kids until the girls left to live with their mother. My dad doesn't really remember much of his childhood but that is okay because my grandma was a great journal keeper. She wrote down in little green books something that happened everyday. My dad's childhood is well documented. My dad looks so much like my brother Heath in this picture!

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This is my mom, my Grandma June, and my dad at my mom and dad's wedding.

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Grandma and Grandpa Gillies

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As my Great Grandparents got older my Grandma watched over them. When my Great Grandma died she moved back to Beaver to take care of my Grandpa. I never called him my Great Grandpa because he was my only Grandpa that was a live when I was born. But it would get confusing when I would tell people that my Grandma moved back to Beaver to take care of my Grandpa. .

. My Grandma loved her family. This is a picture of both of her boy's families back in the nineties.

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I love this picture so much. This was such a common scene. My Grandma's were good friends. They spent a lot of time together at all of our programs and sporting events. This is my Grandma June and my Grandma Murray deep in conversation at one of Heath's soccer games. It looks like these two little ladies where the only ones willing to brave the wind that day. .

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This is my Grandma and Me at my High School Graduation. .

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It was about the time that I graduated from high school that My Grandma's memory started to fade. At first we just thought that it was funny and some times a little annoying. But then it started to get dangerous. She would drive up to our house to visit and would have to have someone drive her home because she couldn't remember where home was.

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This picture is at my wedding. We could really tell then that my Grandma couldn't live alone anymore. It was a very rough transition before we found her a place that she was happy. She hated all of the nursing homes in Cedar and it did not work out to have her live with my parents. My uncle Tom found her a really nice and homey place in Delta. It was so sad to have to move her so far away but it was worth it because she was so happy there. She only lived there for just a few short months before she started to not recognize us anymore except on her really good days. That was so hard.

. . This is when she met Trevin for the first time. She really didn't know what was going on but she faked it really well. She just kept saying what a cute baby he was. .

. This was last year at her 80th birthday party. If you can't tell she had no idea what was going on. It was so hard to see her like this. I am going to miss her so much but I am so glad that she knows where she is now and that she is with those she loves. I have so many more memories of my grandma that I shared at her funeral but this post is almost longer that I can read. If anyone made it through it I am impressed. I'll try to just randomly post some of my other memories later on.