June Elizabeth Runyan

June Runyan, 87, of St. Joseph, passed away Sunday, December 5, 2004, at Hospice at Home at The Meadows in Buchanan. Graveside services will be held at 11:30A.M,. Saturday, December 11, 2004, at Riverview Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to Alzheimer’s Association, Southwest Region or St. Joseph Elk?s Club. Friends who wish to share a memory or sign the guestbook online may do so at www.starks-menchinge.com. Arrangements are entrusted to Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. June was born on October 14, 1917, in St. Joseph, the daughter of Henry and Eleanor (Seel) Richter. Her father owned Richter Hardware, a fixture on State Street in St. Joseph from the early 1900?s until shortly after Mr. Richter?s retirement in 1962. Mrs. Runyan graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1935 and from the University of Michigan in 1939. Thereafter, she taught school, first at the St. Joseph Catholic School, and later in Manton, in Northern Michigan. With the advent of World War II, she enlisted in the U.S. Army, trained as a physical therapist in Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., and then served overseas, first in England, and then in France. She was discharged as a second lieutenant in 1946. Mrs. Runyan met her husband John in the service and they married in Oklahoma City (John?s hometown) in 1946. After living in Galveston, Texas and Oklahoma City, the Runyans returned to St. Joseph in 1951, where Mrs. Runyan lived until her death. She had twin sons, John ?Jock? and Michael in 1947, and a daughter, Elizabeth ?Betsy?, in 1955. In 1965 Mrs. Runyan returned to teaching at Sorter School in Benton Harbor, where she taught fifth and sixth grade until her retirement in 1979. Mrs. Runyan is survived by her three children ? John (Ann) of Lathrup Village, Mich., Michael (Lucinda)of Vashon Island, Wash., and Betsy (Jack) of Kensington, Maryland; and seven grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband John in 1987.