June Dorothy Mccollum

Our much loved and remarkable mother, June Dorothy McCollum died peacefully on Feb 18th 2020 in her home at the age of ninety five (and a half, she would want you to know!). She was born in a small village called Bolney in Sussex on the summer solstice in 1924. June's mother died when she was a baby so she was raised by her father Robert and her Auntie Gertie. She grew up as the youngest of a family of 4 sisters; Mary, Renee, Diana and Doreen and 3 brothers; Robert, Peter and Lyall, who remained close through the years. During the war years in Britain, mum was a member of the Land Army where she learned to enjoy being outdoors and helped to keep the local farms running driving a tractor and working in the fields. As did so many women in those times, June met a Canadian solider at a dance who took her fancy. She became a war bride at 21, marrying Fred (Pete) Stillman in Britain at the end of the war. She joined him in Toronto in 1946 after Richard was born. Their family soon included daughter Mary arriving 13 months later. The marriage dissolved soon after but June remained in a small northern Ontario community with her sister Mary and family. In 1951 June met and married Eric McCollum in Sioux Lookout, Ontario. Soon after they sailed with her children to Baffin Island to join him at his post as a Hudson's Bay fur trader. It was a lonely life but unique experience for a young English woman! After several years there, Eric was transferred to BC to manage an HBC store in Dawson Creek. Their two daughters, Jayne and Jill were born in the nearby hamlet of Pouce Coupe. In 1960 Eric's job brought them to the west coast in Powell River where June felt most at home as it reminded her so much of England. While in Powell River June honed her talent for gardening and an interest in golf which were both to become lifelong passions. June and Eric's family grew up in Powell River and had moved away before they retired to the Brentwood Bay area in 1985 where Jayne and Jill both then lived, with Mary also close by in North Vancouver. They enjoyed many years in the small community and being close to family. Eric predeceased June in 2009 at 88. After moving to the Saanich Peninsula, June joined the Ardmore Golf Club, playing there till retiring from golfing at age 78. Never one to be idle, she then took up five pin bowling which she continued until past 90. She treasured her garden, watching the birds, playing Quiddler and socializing with her many friends, sharing lots of laughs and stories with them while enjoying her daily gin cocktail. She continued to be keenly interested in world events her whole life. June loved life and was proud of making it to 95. The occasions of mum's milestone 90th, 93rd and 95th birthdays were each cause for her offspring to gather with Richard and his family travelling from Ottawa. June's greatest pride was her family, which includes seven grandchildren: Robin, Stefanie, Carey, Cameron, Nathan, Adrienne and Lauren and seven great grandchildren; Brandon, Jenna, Emily, Michael, Riley, Griffin and Logan. We're grateful for our mother's feisty and indomitable spirit and the ideals she gave us, an appreciation of nature, curiosity in the wider world and the importance of friends, being connected and caring for each other. We would like to thank her friends in the complex for their immeasurable kindnesses and thoughtfulness, the homecare nurses and PRT team for their wonderful care and Dr. Ryan Liebscher for his compassionate and excellence as a doctor.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Victoria Hospice Society would be gratefully received, by clicking on donations in the left menu. We would be honored to have friends attend a remembrance of June to be held at Ardmore Golf Club on March 28th - 1pm- 4pm. Refreshments will be served.
With thanks for all your condolences and kind thoughts, The McCollums, the Jamiesons, the Beasons and the deGoeys We regret that due to the current concerns to public health around public gatherings, we feel it best to postpone mum's remembrance at Ardmore Golf Club. It was a hard decision but as we expected quite a large number of people and realized that a fair proportion of the attendants will be in a vulnerable age group and the venue is a public space in which we can't control the environment, decided it would be for the best just now. We hope to you all stay well and will update you when possible. We're sorry we won't be seeing you and thank you for your kind thoughts. regards, Jayne, Jill, Mary & Richard