June Elizabeth Kirkcaldy

June Kirkcaldy was a wonderful, unique human being. All of us gathered here know that from our own interactions with her. June touched all of us in so many different ways.

I met June in 1989 at a meeting of the Vancouver Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society. She had just joined the club and to the surprise of many became the president of the Vancouver Centre the very next year. In her two-year term as president, she certainly made her mark. She set in place a wide range of activities, and was in my humble estimation the best president the Centre has ever had, implementing her vision for the Centre through her sheer force of will. She exerted her undeniable influence on me, personally, many times! She arm-twisted me into turning my astrophotos into a wall calendar, which has been published annually since, and also talked me into getting more involved in the organization, which eventually led to my presidency of the national society.

Amateur astronomers like to attend “star parties.” Not cozy affairs involving a few friends drinking eggnog around a crackling fire. No, star parties typically feature 100 or more stargazers spread across a mountaintop excitedly sharing views of distant galaxies through frozen eyepieces. June attended many of these events, and again made her mark. Even if you were observing several hundred metres away from her, you knew she was at the party from the unmistakable laugh that would periodically pierce the serenity of the dark mountain and jolt you awake if you were dozing off. Like everything else in her life, June took on stargazing with gusto, with absolute, total joy.

I also attended many “regular” parties hosted by June. At these parties, I met some of June’s many, many friends. I became amazed at the diversity and multitude of close friends she had. She simply loved the people in her life. I think her favourite hobby was the one that involved people the most, namely working on her family tree. I must say however that I found myself wishing that June had had fewer friends as I was wading through the 60,000 photos on her computer last evening to find 60 to include in the slide show you saw earlier.

After June developed cancer a decade ago, her interest in astronomy waned but my wife Anu and I still saw her regularly at her famous parties and also at other private get-togethers. We enjoyed hearing about her travels to all corners of the Earth and her current projects. She spoke with such excitement of her latest adventures and with such affection of her travelling companions. And, she always had way too many photos to share with us.

June also kept in touch with her friends through her regular email updates. They were always written with good humour. Often, they contained frightening details of her recent medical bouts. But no matter how severe her condition, June always ended her message with “life is good.” I honestly believe she really felt that way.

One of the last times Anu and I saw June was at a medal ceremony for the Vancouver Olympics last year. She’d been having a rough time lately, but we talked her into joining us. That Burton Cummings, who is also from Winnipeg, was the featured performer at the ceremony was, I think, the deal maker. When I think of June years from now, my memory may very well be of a middle-aged teenager bopping to “These Eyes” with sheer abandon.

On our way home from June’s parties over the years, Anu, who is a family physician, would often tell me how remarkable June’s attitude was. Unimaginably, it seemed that June lived life even more fully following her devastating diagnosis and surgery. It seemed that June’s positive outlook would keep her with us forever, but the disease was just too pervasive. We mourn with you, Dave, for your devastating loss.

Anu holds June up to her seriously ill patients as her prime example of the power of positive thinking. We can all take inspiration from the way June lived her life and in particular her last decade. We can take comfort in knowing that her life, even though it was cut short by a ruthless illness, was rich and full and complete. And, we can honour her memory by filling the air with our loudest, most piercing laughter, and by treasuring and loving all of those around us.

Rajiv Gupta, March 12, 2011

All of us would agree that June was truly the best friend any person could hope for and she was this and so much more to me and our family. She was like a beloved sister to me and the cool interesting loved aunt to all 5 of my children with the added spiritual bonus of being Godmother to Natalie and Lillian. June was an excellent mentor, encourager, role model and confidante to each of us; especially to my children in their teens and as they became adults, in turn, with their children – her God grandchildren.

She enjoyed 'being a kid' with our family except 'as she put it' when she was slaving away at the Peter's!

June and I, at first glance seem like oil and water yet we seem to have been cut from the same cloth - sharing similar natures, beliefs, qualities and values like our strong faith (her a good Protestant girl / me a good Catholic girl).

June was adventuresome, wholesome, loyal, trustworthy, steadfast, compassionate, organized, frugal, an avid bookworm, she fancied her “bling,” spoke what was on her mind and was family orientated (hence her on-going family tree project.) She was both comfortable with her solitude and with spending time building relationships. Natalie (my eldest) and June's Goddaughter put it best when she revealed to me that “June always had your back, Mom. She'd listen to our cares/lamentations but she always seemed to be on your side giving the same advice as you gave us.”

June and I complimented each other and weaved our lives seamlessly together for 37 years – a life time.

I know in my heart, June, that we will continue where you and I left off, not missing a beat. However, the time in between will not be as bright since your light will be directed and shining elsewhere. We are glad for you but sad for your missing presence amongst us.

ON the day you left us, I planted a white heather bush sprayed blue to look upon each day through the coming years in your honor.

We will hold onto all that we, individually and together as a family unit shared and meant to each other knowing that our sharing is just “on hold” and our love unending.

In every which way June, YOU ARE UNFORGETABLE to all of us who were very blessed to know you and feel your love in our lives and until we meed again forever held in eternal motion in our hearts, mind, and soul by all of us who loved you and whom you loved. - Judy Peter

I met June around the time I started kindergarten. I was shy, introverted, fearful and insecure while June was none of the above. She not only became my best friend, but my alter ego. At school one day a kid asked me “which one are you” When I asked him what he was talking about he said “You’re always together - June and Mel, but which one are you?” June was my perfect hiding place - allowing me to be invisible and experience life in ways I would never have attempted on my own. Together we did Brownies, Girl Guides, and Navy League Wrenettes. Had it been up to me, June would not only have been my best friend, but my only friend, but I was happy to tag along as June made many great friends for us along the way too. She was more than happy to organize all kinds of social gatherings and trips for us over the years.

She helped me survive the sudden death of my father when I was 14, the perils and pitfalls of dating, marriage and raising teenagers. She stood by me at my wedding in 1979 and was there to help us celebrate the weddings of our son Jared in 2007 and our daughter Melissa in 2009. A trusted confidante, moral compass, and true friend who could always be counted on to give me the unvarnished truth, whether I wanted to hear it or not. We could always make each other laugh, sometimes just by looking at each other without saying a word. We cried together when we needed to, but she never let us stay down for long.

Her tenacious, indomitable spirit that got us through so much in this life was not about to let a little thing like cancer get in it’s way. Over the past 10 years we often joked about her “bucket list” which kept growing as she surpassed every limitation placed in front of her. I was actually shocked by her first visit to palliative care a few years ago. When she didn’t return my calls and e-mails I just assumed she was off gadding around the world again with Ian or Dave or Denise. By the time she passed her 10th anniversary of fighting cancer she had me nearly convinced that she would outlive us all just to show she could.

Her appreciation of art, reflected in her photographs and the many galleries she visited, her love of history, expressed best in the family tree book she authored. The adventurous spirit that took her to see the Kentucky Derby, the pyramids of Egypt and the polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, and numerous star parties she went on with the Vancouver Astronomy society to view the heavens through the telescope she built, her appreciation of the simple pleasures in this life like riding around on Dodge or just hanging out with Dave and Desi on their acreage near Tyndall. I knew better than to ever ask June why she was going somewhere or to try and “edit” her picture taking when traveling with her.

We often spoke of faith in God and what comes after this. Her prayer to God was straight forward, unpretentious and practical just like June - “Heal me of this cancer and I’ll spend the rest of my life telling everyone how wonderful you are. If you’re not going to heal me then take me home and I’ll spend the rest of eternity telling you how wonderful you are.” I’m sure that’s what she’s doing right now and I know that she’ll have great seats picked out for us when I get there. I love you June. -Melody