June D. Withers

June D Withers, 86, of Osakis, MN, passed away peacefully on 8/30/23 surrounded by loved ones at her home.  A service will be held at Roy-Hetlund Funeral home on Wednesday, Sept 6, 2023, at 11:00 am with visitation 1 hour prior to the service.

June Delores Dell was born on 4/12/1937 to Irene Davis.  Shortly after, she was adopted by Kenneth and Inez Dell of Alexandria, MN.  She grew up an only child and had, by her own admission, a privileged childhood with great financial stability and little discipline.  She left home at 18 to go to Arizona to finish out her senior year of high school and then began a life she would live her own way.  June was a woman of great determination, tenacity, kindness, creativity and intuition.    She marched to the beat of her own drum and wasn’t afraid to make her opinion known, but the June I cared for the past 3 years was always very kind, generous, gracious and witty.  She was always quick to whisper a quick one-liner at the most inappropriate time. 

June had a lot of life in her years.  She did her thing and experienced things most of us wouldn’t even think of.  She had a memory for directions that was ridiculously accurate.  I tested her frequently and she always knew the way from memory.  Sadly, so many of her memories were stolen by dementia so it’s difficult to put things together chronologically.  As a single young woman, she was able to connect with a couple of her half-brothers and one half-sister.  This helped to give her at least some semblance of family, as she would carry a great deal of pain regarding her childhood with her into death.  She married 3 times as a young woman, divorcing husband Larry Withers in 1974.  She wouldn’t marry again, although she met L. Bruce Jonas some 30+ years ago and they remained together until dementia took him to Galeon in the spring of 2022.  For many years, June had an Old English Sheepdog that she was so very proud of.  When she left us, she also left behind her precious Spirit. 

When June left Osakis after her divorce from Larry, she went to Missouri where she worked for a company as a cook on the cargo ship that would go from the head of the Mississippi to the gulf in Louisiana.  She would work for 3 or 4 weeks and then she’d be off for a bit, returning for her next rotation.  She then worked in administration at Park College for several year and she also worked in the office in a casino while she lived in Las Vegas.  She also spent some time in Arizona before returning to Osakis and working as an assistant to the Superintendent as well as an aide on the playground for the children. 

June died peacefully in her home surrounded by those she loved after a battle with her kidney disease and metabolic acidosis.  The neighborhood will miss witnessing Spirit’s scoldings for sneaking off even though he knew better.  June would want me to extend a special “thank you” to Kim Chalmers, Tony Dahlberg, Chad and Cheryl Doocy, and Monica Karnes for always being there to help her out when she needed help.  She was always abundantly clear that she wanted to be in and die in her home and there is absolutely no way that could have happened without your help.  As stubborn and tenacious as she was, her dementia made her very vulnerable to many things and she was so very fortunate to have you all looking out for her the way you did. 

May God welcome her into Paradise, where there will be no pain, loneliness, or confusion and may she rest in peace.