Eulogy for June Ball

as read by Mark 

June Smith was born in Parkhurst prison in June 1929. (We think that was the only time she spent there!)She was the third of four children, born to parents Len and Patricia. Eldest sister Lennie, then Hugh and finally her younger brother Dennis completed the family. She had a lovely childhood as they moved around the country with her father's job as a prison officer, but the Isle of Wight and Oxford were her favourites. 
As a young woman just after the war, she worked in various jobs. One she mentioned often was when she worked in Simpsons in Piccadilly which she considered very glamorous.
She met her future husband Michael through her brother Hugh. The two young men were best friends and played cricket for the same team. When Hugh introduced the pair of them June was instantly bowled over and Michael felt like he'd scored a century! She became Mrs Fincher in 1950 and lived briefly with Michael's parents in Putney before moving to Streatham in 1953.
Coincidently, Michael's brother Terry also married a June Smith, which caused much hilarity but thankfully no confusion! 
Over the next couple of years their family was complete, with the arrival of Robert and Rebecca. But life in London was still sometimes tough and in 1963 bomb sites and smog were exchanged for the clean country air and green fields of Orpington.
June and Mike and the two children were very happy in Kent, but it was still good to get away from it all and see the rest of the family - brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces and cousins, wherever they were in the country, enjoying the beaches in Devon or the Isle of Wight and then getting the children to bed early so they could have a good old game of cards and a natter in the evening. 
Back at home though, bills still had to be paid and June worked as a dinner lady at Robert and Rebecca's primary school before getting a job at Orpington Hospital in the FPC department. Here she made many friends with whom who she remained in contact with until the end of her life. 
When Robert and Rebecca were deemed to be of an age where they could be left alone, June and Michael were able to spend more time with friends as well as family, holidaying, partying and dancing but all the while keeping an eye on what the youngsters were up to!
There were additions to the family after Rebecca married and had two lovely children, Mark and Ruth. Sadly in 1982 Michael died at the early age of 55 from multiple sclerosis. 
June carried on in Orpington for a while but then moved to the Isle of White for a couple of years before returning to the mainland to live with the second love of her life, Frank (not Sinatra but a Frank none the less)
They spent many happy hours together pottering around their garden at 42 East Hill Farm, or traveling the world videoing, photographing and making even more friends, again June keeping in contact with them until the end.
In 1994 Frank made an honest woman of June and two months later Robert made a decent woman of Sandy! It was a very good year. 
In 1991 another man entered June's life - Rebecca's partner Alan. More family and friends to photograph and welcome into Number 42. 
Frank sadly lost his battle with cancer in 2000 but June got through this with the help us all and especially a new man in the family, Rebecca’s partner Alan whom Mum adored (especially when she got him to do odd jobs around her home).
She was a very independent woman and drove her little green Nissan micra everywhere. She sang in it, spoke to it and drove over a hundred thousand miles in it. June was also a very considerate driver to her passengers. So much so that she told them to adjust the near-side wing mirror to suit THEMSELVES not her! It was, after all she said, the PASSENGER mirror. It was was always very reassuring to glance over to see her donor card attached to the dash board with her Frank Sinatra air fresher swinging in time with the music! Toot toot. 
She thought nothing of traveling the globe on her own, visiting America, Australia and many places in between. But she also loved the holidays she took with her much loved sister Lennie and later brother Hugh. She also enjoyed a very memorable tour of Europe with Hugh and Margaret in their VW camper-van. When they crossed the bridges from Switzerland to Germany she would tell the custom and police officers that she and Margaret were the 29'ers and were entitled to cross the bridges free!
She also tried very hard to embrace the computer age. Not many 83 year oldshave their own Facebook page or FACEMAIL as she called it!She wasn't always successful at uploading photographs but storing the real thing in albums? - now that she was an expert at!
Many evenings were spent rearranging the 60 plus photo albums that documented June's life. Always with Frank Sinatra, Vic Damone or more recently Take That there to help her. She said she could remember taking the photographs and often what she was wearing at the time. Memories of family, friendship and love which could never be deleted.
June was immensely proud of the whole of her family and loved to tell other people of their achievements. She was always cutting out pictures and clippings from magazines and newspapers, sticking them into her scrap books - but not before they'd been copied and posted away to whoever she thought should be interested. 
June will be remembered for many things, humour, organisation, thoughtfulness, but more importantly she will be remembered as a much loved Mum, Mother-in-law, Sister, Aunt, Cousin, Nanna and friend.