June West Schwarzbeck passed away, January 3, 2015, just six months before her 100th birthday.She was born June 29, 1915 in Columbia, SC, and although she only lived in the South for her first 12 years, she never left it far behind.

In 1927, just prior to the Great Depression, June's mother, Marie Franklin West, with little money and no contacts, took June, her lifelong best friend and confidant, to New York City in search of a better life.June met her sweetheart, Charlie, a shy, handsome Brooklyn boy, and they married in 1940, during the demands of WWII.After moving with Marie to the mid-century promised land, Long Island, their family gradually grew to five with the births of their two children.They made the coastal village of Amityville their home where June became an accomplished contract bridge player, and she and Charlie enjoyed a busy social life.

In her fifties, June accepted a position with TWA where she worked for 10 years, quickly earning management positions, providing herself and Charlie, along with always-adventurous Marie, the travel June had always craved, exploring Europe, as well as much of Africa, South America and Asia, before retiring to their oceanfront home in Juno Beach, Florida.

Missing their children, who had long lived on the West Coast, June and Charlie moved to Vashon Island in 1989 where they delighted in their waterfront home on Sandy Shores.June hosted dozens of children's class trips, beachside birthdays, and neighborhood Christmas parties, and at Vashon Country Club, played bridge and sat poolside with Charlie where they enjoyed family and friends.In 1996, June lost Charlie, her husband of 56 years who had always adored her.

Still healthy, fun-loving, and determined, June continued to enjoy her Vashon life, feeding the seagulls, playing bridge, making trips to Seattle, and watching her five grandchildren grow and thrive. She often said, as she sat on her deck, delighting in the sea life, the Sound, and Mt. Rainer ("Granny's mountain," as her grandchildren call it) that she regretted each day she hadn't lived on Vashon; she loved it so.

June will always be deeply missed by her son, Charles Schwarzbeck and wife, Chandra (Seattle), grandchildren Sarah (Brooklyn, NY), Chuck (Los Angeles, CA), and Nicholas (Seattle), and, daughter, Devon Atkins (Vashon) and grandchildren Alexander (Washington, D.C.) and Liz (Vashon), and many others who enjoyed June's enduring smile and quick wit, the sort of woman, at 40 or 95, who would laugh until she cried for the joy of it.In addition to her family, June loved and always lived with cats and sometimes said she hoped to be acat in her next life.Please make any donations in her memory to VIPP: VIPP, P.O. 245, Vashon, WA 98070 or https://www.gifttool.com/donations/Donate?ID=1229&VER=1&LNG=EN.