Marguerite June VanKleeck-Larsen Robinson

When June Robinson walked into a room, those in her company felt energy, and enthusiastic spontaneity. This was just one example of who she was and how she impacted those around her. She was a clever and gregarious person, who always sought out the finest attributes in other people. It was as if she wanted to share all of their experiences, revel in their lives and celebrate their discoveries. She was tireless and had boundless enthusiasm that would serve her well throughout her life. She was “June” to all, as her mother was also, Marguerite, and was often heard to remark when asked her name…”any month will do.”

Marguerite June was born June 2, 1928 at Seattle General Hospital in Seattle, Washington. She was the daughter of Marguerite (Marg) Millions and husband, James R. VanKleeck. She lived the first four years of her life in Seattle and then moved to Canada, where she, eventually, called Calgary, Alberta her home. At age 8, her mother remarried, and Julius T. Larsen adopted her (she didn’t know this until she was marrying Mervin).

Always at the ready with a good joke, she had a great sense of humor and while some who knew her might describe her as a dreamer with great ideas, her friends and family understood well that she was always in pursuit of life’s endless possibilities and opportunities available to her. Since she had to wear glasses since she was two, she had special sympathies for those with any disability.

June was an only child, getting to know her two half-sisters, Emy Waugh and Jeanie Davison, as an adult (when her birth-father died). She was very accepting and supportive of her family. She bought resolution and harmony to her home and to other areas of her life. These traits served her well in her adult life and, along with her wit, outgoing personality, and understanding of others, drew the admiration of many who knew her.

As a young girl, she was able to empathize and identify with a vast array of people and personality types. This quality drew her into a diverse group of friends and acquaintances. She was intelligent and interacted well with her peers. Her childhood home was shared with other renters in the 1930S and 40’s, so she learned how to work to help keep the family going during the depression.

She was almost always the first to jump in when it came to playing games or participating in other activities. She took part in gymnastics and dance (Ballet and Tap). She participated in the Royal Canadian Rifle Association. In her spare time she liked to read, and playing the piano. Her memorable achievements included making lifetime friends. she had the ability to find amusement with almost any activity and with her many childhood friends discovered many amusements during the war to keep their spirits up. She owned the only bat and ball, so she was always requested to join the baseball games. She enjoyed the kitchen and made cookies to sell to the neighbors. It was her first business and with the help of her Grandmother, Margaret Ellen Millions, it was a success and she purchased all her ingredients with cash.

During her school years, June responded enthusiastically to any new project and was regularly in search of one adventure after another. She was a good student, and did well in her courses. She absorbed as much as she could from all of her teachers and was able to tackle conceptual and abstract problems, using her imagination to master her assignments. For June, school had some difficulty because of her eyes, but her quick mind made school fun. Friends and classmates considered her a good listener, knowing that when necessary, they could go to her to discuss just about anything. She loved to teach gymnastics, and created (with the help of her family) a warm environment for the service men of WW II to visit and have a warm meal, since they were so far from home (which is how she met Robbie on a cold and snowy Easter Sunday/April Fool’s Day - April 1st, 1945)

June took office training and didn’t attend college until the 1960’s. She enjoyed public speaking and art. Because of her late start in finishing her schooling, she was most excited when her children did well in school. She was adaptable, a quality that helped her make the transition into adult life with little difficulty. As a result, her problem solving skills and thirst for new knowledge almost guaranteed that she enjoyed every class she took for she was always on a quest for new things to learn and experience.

Her talent for making acquaintances easily, which in turn brought her an endless stream of friends, kept her busy with a full social life. Assertive, outgoing, yet shy, she was easy to know and demonstrated a deep concern for others. She seemed aware of what was going on with people around her and throughout her life she made many friends. Growing up, some of her best friends included Nora Robertson-Stackard and the Don Robertson Family, Pinky (Jeanie Frasier), Denny Ryan, and her cousins of the Larsen family, Anna and Joyce. Later in life she had many friends from around the world. Her friendships lasted a lifetime, even ex-wives and husband of her children (E. J. and Martin), as she considered them still family.

On, June 24th, 1949, June married Mervin Daniel (Robbie) Robinson at First Methodist Church in the Greenlake area of Seattle, Washington. June loved his family and they loved her. Spending time on the North Alberta homestead in Timue, Alberta (N.E. of Fort Assiniboine), where Robbie was raised was the best place to be in the summer, but she truly didn’t like the snow. Robbie had gone AWOL from the Royal Canadian Army, to convince her to marry him. They were both very late to their wedding as they had been kidnapped by family member who thought “it would never work out”. After they were married, he returned to finish his time of service to his country (spending most of it in the Brig). June was tenderhearted and sensitive towards her family’s needs. Nurturing her family came naturally to her. She and Robbie were married 27 years before his death in 1967 from a work related accident. Love was a big part of her life and later she spent many years with Russ Weaver, as her companion and mate. He crossed the veil before her.

June was a natural and creative parent who was willing to provide her family with all sorts of new and interesting experiences. For her, parenting was a particularly enjoyable and pleasurable part of her life. She originally wanted Six sons, but accepted that 2 girls and 2 boys was a proper number, as they brought lots of friends into the home. Every activity, from chores to bedtime routines, became a game in the Robinson home. June did her best to understand her children’s feelings, and show sensitivity to their needs. she had a gift for gentle persuasion which enabled her to find novel solutions to any problem of situation that might crop up (and it did all the time). Her four children included: Ellen Jayne’, Martin, Danna, and Jody. She was also blessed with seven grand children: Selena, Angela, Capriel, Joseph, Daniel, Christiana, and Tiffany. Her great-grandchildren are: Alexander, Jayla, Dominic, and Braiden. There were always children in the home, with homemade cookies, bread, and a warm kitchen. She would read to her children at bedtime and sometimes, play her piano to send them to sleep. There was always music and dancing in the home. Later in life she reaped the benefits by enjoying her children reading to her, or playing their instruments for her pleasure, or dancing with her.

June was uplifted by new ideas and was excited by life’s possibilities, traits that made her an exceptional worker. Her primary occupation was as a purchaser for the U.S. Forest service. She worked part-time helping others look more beautiful with Avon products, and at the Robinson (not directly related) Newspaper in Des Moines, Washington. She was enterprising, inventive, and working against deadlines energized her. She had the uncanny ability to identify a win/win solution to just about any problem, assisted by her intuition and insight. fellow workers saw her as a supporter and a mentor. Her children fondly remember that she helped fly a Cessna plane, steered a Sailboat off Whidbey Island, hunted bear in the mountains of Canada; bottle-fed one year old grizzly bear cubs; designed and made clothes for herself, her children and others; painted pictures and homes, sculptured clay; taught gymnastics; played Boogie Woogie on the piano; was a Cub Scout Den Mother; worked a forest fire line with 200 men during the fire season; enjoyed trying new foods from around the world, including chocolate covered ants, rattlesnake, bear, antelope, wild duck, pheasant, etc; loved the opera, ballet, and live theater was well read (both fiction and non-fiction), subscribed to many magazines; was an art enthusiast of all types; loved the Puget Sound and Seattle; disliked snow and cold weather; sometimes she carried the flag at the Washington Memorial day parade (Seattle) and the Highland games (in Enumclaw) with the Royal Canadian Legion, also the Des Moines Waterland parades with the IOOF club. She learned how to do farm work with her Mother-in-law (Mable Elizabeth Zang-Robinson), who taught her how to milk a cow, harvest eggs, churn the milk, and feed the farm animals on the Robinson homestead.

June loved to have a broad variety of activities in her life, she pursued numerous hobbies. Her favorites were art, music, dancing, handcrafts, and making cookies with her children and grand-children. She had a knack for being able to multi-task in order to create time for all of her favorite pastimes. Even in her last days she was working on knitted slippers for the Fall Bazaar with the IOOF /Rebekah.

June liked to participate in sports, and she impressed many friends by standing on her head. She did Yoga every morning before getting up. Her charisma, supportive nature, and ability to improvise made it fun for all to enjoy a great many activities with her. She loved to swim, and she had a marksmanship status in the Canadian Rifle Association and with the Normandy Park Archery club. She loved watching the Olympics every year, and even attended the Calgary Olympic games.

Throughout her life, June was actively involved in professional and community organizations. she was compassionate, and accommodating and quick to move into action. Always able to build a consensus, she seemed to be the person smack dab in the middle of things, working to get things done. Those who had the opportunity to work with her usually agreed…she started it, and it was a entertaining as anything you could imagine. She was an active member of the RCL (Royal Canadian Legion), IOOF/Rebekah (International Order of Odd Fellows/Auxiliary), and the West Seattle F.O.E. (Fraternal Order of Eagles) as an Aerie member. When Robbie was alive, she was ever present in assisting his good-fellowship efforts, too.

Politically she respected our rights to vote responsibly and supported those she felt were doing their best for all people. She took this very seriously as she admired her Grandmother Millions who chained herself to a telephone pole in Seattle for the Rights of Women Voters, and shared this story with her children every year at voting times.

June was a woman dedicated and devoted to her spirituality. She was a member of the Des Moines Methodist church and often attend Unity, and the faiths of many other paths. She was sympathetic and able to empathize with others and she used these qualities to the fullest while working tirelessly for her beliefs, as an example of love-in-action. She encouraged acceptance and tolerance for all and studied the works of other faiths and beliefs to gain knowledge and understanding.

June’s love of improvising in her daily life was a perfect fit for her enjoyment of traveling. Her favorite vacations meant exciting adventures, new friend, and great memories. She took advantage of travel as it was presented to her, don’t wait or this opportunity may not pass this way again. Traveling fit her personality well and she knew how to pack light. Her favorite vacations included over 34+ countries and in one year she slept in over 70 different beds.

She loved to try new food (as long as it didn’t try to bite her back). Traveling allowed her to sample many new and tasty dishes. She believed in having a true opinion about a food and that required you to have three separate bites: one for texture, one for taste, and the last to truly decide if you like it…, but then try it fixed another way as it may change your mind.

“A salad isn’t a salad unless it has 7 vegetables” (and she counted), dressing on the side and wasn’t a veggi count. Jody once found a salad for her in Sequim, WA with 22 veggies and June was impressed and thrilled with the repast.

One dinner with Jody and EJ at Nicolino’s in Issaquah, Washington, she played a scene from the movie “Last Holiday” with Queen Latifa….each of them ordering one each of the different specials of the day to share on the restaurant patio with laughter.

Besides traveling worldwide, and locally, she enjoyed books, movies, and TV shows on travel, animals, and people of the world and beyond. He world knew no boundaries and love was for all. She had precious memories of traveling with her children and grand-children: Russia with her son Martin, trips to the ocean and into Canada with Danna, a trip to France and the Big Island of Hawaii with daughters EJ and Jody, and another to Maui with EJ and her grand-daughter Selena plus great-grand sons. There were many trips with her Mother (Tiny Mom) and also with her Father Jules. Trips to Canada with Robbie and the children.

June was a lover of animals and cherished her pets. She loved dogs and cats, and her home sometimes has several other strange creatures, like frogs, snakes, gerbils, hamsters, and mice. As a child she had a cat named, Mokie, he spent 20 yrs with her. A dog named Blackie and his sister, Sooty were family pets in the Des Moines, WA. house in the 1960’s. Her family was grateful for her tolerance and acceptance of all creatures and passed this onto her children.

June’s retirement from her job, came in 1978 when her mother died, and she needed to care for her father in Calgary. She was a flexible person and she adjusted to this situation with the best of her abilities. She filled her time with the IOOF in Calgary, working as a volunteer at the Thrift shop and time to travel with Poppa Jules. Even so far away from Seattle, she continued to stay in touch with her old friends and like always, mad plenty of new ones. Always visits back and forth with family filled her time.

June met her two Half-sisters in San Francisco for a visit the year before she passed away. The “girls” only left the room twice in 5 days. Talking and laughing, with food delivered from a great restaurant, they shared their life stories with each other. Two side trips: one with Jeanie’s son Jim driving us to the waterfront for a quick evening tour, and the other was to the Asian Art Museum to see the Terracotta Warriors. It was a perpetual slumber party of joy.

June passed away on May 2, 2014 in Seattle, Washington, in her own bed. This is where she chose to be. She survived a stroke in 2009 and several cancer surgeries. One of her blessings was that Jody could stay in the hospital room with her to make sure she received the best of care. When release June spent healing time at Jody and Bill’s home, giving EJ a needed rest, before continuing home care with stage 4 cancer. EJ was assisted by Martin’s wife, Wendy, Mother-sitting service of Danna, and the Group Health Hospice team (exceptional assistance) and June was able to visit with all who came to visit till it was time to move on. She was survived by her four children, 7 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren (who called her, Nanna).

Funeral services were held at Forest Lawn, in West Seattle. Presiding over the service was Reverend Shirley Zorbrist of Unity Church, her friends, Toby Hanson and Greg Powers, provided accordion and tuba music (with a rousing polka at the end of the service). During the service a CD compilation (by EJ and Jody) of her life photos was seen by all, and her 6 year old great-grandson, Alexander, sang her Happy Birthday with her friends and family joining in. Afterwards he gave each person a daisy (for she loved flowers) as EJ spoke.. The family could see and hear how much their mother was loved by the stories and songs that were shared from friends, loved ones, and the honors bestowed by the IOOF, Rebekahs, and RCL. It was an honor to be a part of June’s life.

Several weeks later at the internment, her daughter, EJ played her Celtic harp, June’s last earthly concert, as she was laid to rest in the same urn that Robbie (Mervin) has been in since December 1976.

There was always a certain style and inventiveness to June, her hats and hugs. She was known as the “Hug Lady” and was a dynamic, self-expressive person who was forever looking to celebrate the endless possibilities of life. She had a knack for being clever, creative, witty, and was a joy to be around. She was often fiercely independent, and many looked to her for inspiration, leadership, wisdom, and even courage for she was always willing to share life’s human experiences with her loved ones. She and Robbie encouraged their children to survive, thrive, and prosper with the training to cook, clean, garden, sew, finances, etc., and to be the best you can be.

If you listen you can hear her say…”Tell me a story..” or “I need a concert….” or “give me a hug”. She will always be with us, in the sun, the wind, and the rain. The Universe will always be her playground and she will dance among the stars with joy and love.