June Heldt – In Memory

June D. Heldt, loving wife of James E. Heldt, was born on February 2, 1933 in Carterville, Illinois, and passed away on July 16, 2020. June is pre-deceased by her parents, Vernon and Eva Ford, and her older sister, Jo Ann Ford Rush. She is survived by her husband, and is survived by her brother Jerry Ford and his wife Nancy. She leaves this world with a family that loves her and will miss her.

Her children and grandchildren, save one, live in the greater Houston area. Her two sons are James V. Heldt who is married to Wendy, and Randy Heldt who is married to Amanda. There are five grandchildren, Jami Gonzales, Jenifer Ibarra, Kim Farrand, Sarah Fulton and Hunter Heldt. There are great-grandchildren from infant to teenager. They are Jonah, Josephine, Camilla, Izabel, Gage, Evie, Kaylee, Kylee, Luke, Jaci, Erin and Jenna. June also had a special friendship with Hunter's mother, Lynda Heldt.

June's father was Vernon Ford, who originally worked in the coal mines before becoming a labor union official. Her mother, Eva Ford certainly passed down to June a confident and can-do spirit. Her father's work eventually took June and the rest of the family to Houston, Texas where June attended Lamar High School. She told stories of these times, being with her sister and little brother, and spending time with her grandma Lucy and visiting her grandma Hampton in Carterville.

June had a lifelong interest in music. She shortly followed her big sister to the Texas State College for Women, in Denton, Texas. She studied music education. Denton was and is also the home of North Texas State, and it was here that while strolling down the street, a few young men pulled up in a convertible and offered to take the girls for a ride. One particularly tall and thin young man seemed to strike her fancy. James' military obligations complicated their courtship but in 1954 James and June were married. They would stay married for more than sixty years.

World events led James to join the US Air Force, where he stayed for 22 years, taking June and the boys around the world and back. She made this or that housing unit into a home. They were in Newfoundland, Alabama, New York, Japan, Ohio, Okinawa, and Oklahoma before James retired from the Air Force and

they settled into the Houston area to stay. Artistic and creative, with supreme competence and fearlessness, June performed in musicals, sang in choirs, painted with oils and watercolors. From old photos, Jim and Randy can see that they were always dressed sharp, and always dressed matched. June yearned to learn new things, and mastered everything from cake decorating, to furniture restoring and reupholstering, to Chinese cooking. When it was June's thing, it was done well and done on time! Her parties were events, with riotously fun games and laughter from start to finish

June was the consummate Air Force wife and mother of two active boys, but she still found time to give her talents to helping others. While in Okinawa, she taught crafts to the convalescing soldiers at the Military Hospital.

As June and James became empty nesters, they went first to sail boating. June probably showed her devotion to James, more than a devotion to sailing, but she was always the "loyal first mate". Since she was then able to devote more time to outside activities, she was a frequent substitute at the local schools. During one semester she volunteered as a "resource person" for a class of children with limited English skills.

When James retired (again) they began RV'ing, seeing America and Canada in long stretches, making new friends and dropping in on old ones. June researched and planned the trips. This was before the days of GPS, so she was the "turn by turn" guidance in the cockpit. At last, they were able to "make up" for those years of frequent separations. As June grew older and stayed closer to home, she still read voraciously. She kept an orderly house that was always her hallmark. She was immensely proud of each of her two sons, her five grandchildren and her many great grandchildren.

June taught her children to be independent and self-reliant, and let them make their own choices, even while encouraging them and cheering for them. These qualities and her spirit will carry on in her family.