Juanita June Smith

June Smith entered Heaven surrounded by family and friends on Friday, February 4th, 2022. She was 101 years young and lived a great life. June was born in Sullivan County, Missouri on November 18, 1920, to Lulu and Leonard Fanning. She was the third of five children, with older sisters Mildred and Wenonah, younger brother John and sister Betty. They moved to Chillicothe when June was 2 years old. June and John Elliott Smith graduated from Chillicothe High School in 1938. June then went on to Chillicothe Business College while Elliott worked at various jobs.

She was married to John Elliott Smith in 1939, then moved to Colorado in 1941 after their oldest son, Gary, was born. She worked at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal during WWII and then Safeway. The family moved back to Missouri for a time before returning to Colorado after their daughter, Judy was born. In 1951 their last child, Bill, was born in Denver.  June started working for Safeway 1941, becoming one of the first women in the field. June worked in many areas of service and training. She helped start the first training program for checkers at Safeway in 1960 and retired after 41 years of hard work in 1982.

June and John, known as Smitty or Elliott, had three children, Gary, Judy, and Bill, and helped raise their grandchildren together until Smitty’s death in 1999. June loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren with ferocity, present in each of their lives and a powerful center for her family.

She is preceded in death by her husband Smitty, her son Gary, and her siblings, Mildred, Wenonah, John, and Betty. June is survived by her daughter-in-law Donna, daughter Judy, son-in-law Hank, son Bill, and daughter-in-law Sharon. Her family continues with her grandchildren Tom (Connie), Nicole (Scott), Elisabeth (Walt), Jennifer (Shawn), Wendi (Chad), John (Janette), Gail, Sharon, Becky (Tim), and Stephanie (Pete). June also loved her great-grandchildren: Jordan (Justin), Andy, Erin, Nikolas, Adam, Kayla, Sydney, Holly, Camryn, Carissa, Jonathan, Michael, Madison, Ashley, Madelyn, Stephen, and Alex.

Services honoring June's have been scheduled for Saturday, July 2nd at 1:00pm at Light of Christ Anglican Church. A brief reception will follow. Following the reception, June will be interred at the St. Phillip and St. James Episcopalian Church columbarium.