Ellen "June" Hedge Basler

Ellen June Kennedy Hedge Basler, born October 17, 1920, in Dunkirk, Indiana, to Mary Ann Margaret Elizabeth “Mayme” Rubrecht Kennedy and Otto Kennedy, passed peacefully in her daughter, Joyce’s, arms on September 9, 2014, in Sugar Land, Texas.

June Kennedy, a graduate of Dunkirk High School, met her future husband Charles “Charlie” Hedge at Indiana University where she was a sister in Alpha Omicron Pi. After marrying on September 5, 1942, June accompanied Charlie to various work locales as he took employment at Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons that industrially supported World War II. Their son Gary was born in 1950 when they resided in Louisville, Kentucky. When Charles was transferred to New York City in 1955 the family took residence in Stamford, Connecticut, where their daughter, Joyce Ann, was born in 1959. Charles and June, when not busy with Scouting and other activities of their children, were active in the First Presbyterian Church and then the First United Methodist Church in Stamford, and the Stamford and Greenwich Square Dance clubs. In 1974, her Charles was called back to heaven.

In 1978 June married her new square dance partner Carl Basler of Norwalk, Connecticut. Carl graced June’s life, travelling and square dancing up to 1982. In his memory, June squared danced on the Great Wall of China.

June worked as a teacher’s aide in Stamford starting at Roxbury Elementary School in 1975. Her “Busy Bear” program at Westover Magnet School in the 1990s, where elementary students crafted arts for senior citizens, was recognized by the State of Connecticut with its “Celebration of Excellence” award.

June’s travels often followed the path of her children, visiting her son Gary and his wife, Janet, who lived in Copenhagen, Denmark and travelling around Europe in 1974. She was a frequent visitor to Tujunga, California where Gary and Janet settled in 1979 and helped to raise grandsons Michael, born in 1982, and Andrew, born in 1986. Granddaughter Lauren Basler was born to Carl’s son, George, and Audrey Basler in 1983.

June was a frequent visitor to Joyce and her husband, Don Victory, in Houston, then New Orleans where grandsons Steven (1990) and Daniel (1992) were born, and then Malaysia where granddaughters Melissa (1993) and Kathryn (1996) were born. After moving in 1998 to Sugar Land, Texas, “Grandma June” became a volunteer at Walker Station Elementary School and a member of Parkway United Methodist Church. From 2003 to 2005 June joined the Victorys in Moscow, Russia, where she volunteered at the Anglo American School of Moscow and attended services at both Our Lady of Hope Parish and the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy. She enjoyed adventures with her grandchildren around Russia and to Egypt, Turkey, and India.

Family, who are comforted knowing June has joined loved ones in heaven, include: Gary Hedge, his wife Janet Hedge, of Tujunga, CA; grandson Michael Hedge (currently in England), grandson Andrew Hedge, his wife Michele Hedge, and great grandson Logan Muir Hedge of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA; George and Audrey Basler of Binghamton, NY, and granddaughter Lauren Basler of Boston, MA; and daughter, Joyce Victory, her husband, Don Victory, and grandchildren Steven, Daniel, Melissa, and Kathryn, all of Sugar Land, TX. June was assisted in her last years by the staff of Greatwood Retirement and Assisted Living and loving private care givers Vicky Robertson, Angie Alonso, Carmen Alvarez, Anita Cruz, Lupe Perales, and Ashley Perales.

A celebration of June’s life and legacy will be held Saturday, September 20, 2014, at 5:00 pm, at Parkway United Methodist Church, 5801 New Territory Blvd, Sugar Land, TX 77479. In lieu of flowers and consistent with June’s no-frills, Christian life, donations can be made in her name to Second Mile Mission, www.secondmile.org, 1135 Highway 90A, Missouri City, TX 77489. Second Mile provides food, clothing, household items, spiritual counseling and health care to needy residents of Fort Bend County.