June Helen Bernhardt died on June 26, 2017 at the age of 101. She was a remarkable woman who loved to sing, write poetry, play the organ and chat with family and friends. She had an optimistic attitude and the strength to pick herself up by her bootstraps and carry on despite hardships that came along. June spent her first seven years in Seattle, and then moved with her family to Yakima for her father's health. She lived in Yakima through her junior year in high school, and then moved to Seattle where she graduated from Lincoln High School in 1934. After completing business school June returned to Yakima where she met and married her husband, Arthur. The couple had four children, three boys and a girl and lived more than 50 years in Stanwood and Camano Island. While the majority of women in the 50s were staying home, June worked. She started as a purchasing agent for a boat company, then worked many years as a purchasing agent for Black Clawson in Everett that built and repaired sawmills She retired in 1982 at 74. She is survived by sons, Larry and Bob Bernhardt; daughter and son-in-law, Ann and Don Hagen; 11 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren. Her son, John, passed away in 1995. June's poem consoles, "Don't weep for me, for I am not far, you'll find me in your thoughts, my soul has crossed the bar." June will join her father, Arthur R. Wasson, at the Evergreen Washelli Cemetery in Seattle.
A celebration to honor June's life will be held at the Twin Lakes Country Club in Federal Way on Aug. 20 at 1 p.m.