June Yvonne Werner Guion. Age 96, passed away on January 19, 2022. She was born in Lamberton, MN on June 26, 1925.
June was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 73 years, Lyle Frederic Guion, her Father Fred Werner, her mother, Gladys Werner (Bishir), stepmother, Frieda Werner (Goter), and her brothers Merle Werner and Ronald Werner.
June is survived by her children, Tom (Mary), Jim (Paula), Mike, Lynn Cusick (Ron), Jean Cowand (Starkey), Steve (Nageen); 16 grandchildren: Dan, Jon, Tom, Mike, Naomi, Samara, Alana, Ephron, Gina, Bobbi, Mike, Darcy, Dakota, Adam, Zachariah, Noah; 27 great grandchildren: Emma, Claire, Jack, Alice, Will, Tess, Ella, Lana, Jennifer, Tiffany, Julian, Camille, Alexa, Brooke, Max, Jennifer, Mason, Colin, Kylie, Emerson, Fiona, Weston, Aubree, Olivia, Landon, Christian, Jayden; and eight great-great grandchildren: Oliver, Avery, Iris, Ashton, Zoey, Eden, Clara, William; and three sisters, Lavonne Hessler, Darlene King and Floreen Meyer.
While June was born in the tiny farm town of Lamberton in Redwood County southwest of the Twin Cities, during her early childhood she moved with her family to St. Paul, MN where she lived until her husband reactivated his full-time military career and they moved first to Springfield, VA in 1976 and then Hampton, VA in 1977 where they lived until his retirement in 1985. After that, they spent time in between St. Paul, MN, Lakeland Florida, Hampton, VA, and eventually settled for good in Roseville, MN in the fall of 2017.
June was a kind, loving patient soul who dedicated her life to providing a warm, welcoming, comfortable home for her tireless, hardworking husband and their six children and the grandchildren and great grandchildren she and her husband were eventually blessed with as the family matured and grew. Through the years, the Guion household was always a fun, relaxing gathering place for extended family, friends and neighbors, and this is a testament to June and the environment that she was responsible for creating for all who visited or stayed with the family.
In the early years of her marriage, as she took on the role of mother to their quickly expanding baby boomer family, June’s talents as a chef, seamstress, and all things motherhood were the stuff of legend. As her husband worked two, and at times three, jobs to keep the family sheltered and fed, it was primarily up to June to get the children up and off to school, homework completed after school, dinner prepared and served, extra-curricular activities cared for and into bed and ready to do it all again the following day. All of that, in addition to, making sure the house was in order, groceries shopped for, and energy left for providing her husband with the attention and care he needed. June was nothing short of Wonder Woman during a long period that stretched from the birth of their first child in the 1940s until the end of the 1960s when most of the children were grown, graduated and ready to start their own families.
June loved music and could often be found singing along to songs on the radio while working around the home. From an early age she was quite fond of Elvis Presley, but June had an appreciation of many different styles of music being created throughout the decades. She even found the time to teach herself how to play a few folks songs on the guitar when she was in her fifties, having never attempted to learn an instrument prior to that. June loved daytime TV shows (the Soaps), playing cards with her husband, family, and friends, putting together puzzles, and she loved coloring in coloring books with her large collection of colorful pencils long before it became popular with the masses.
June and her husband loved traveling and saw much of the United States while retired. A favorite destination for many years was Las Vegas where they enjoyed the games, food, drink and entertainment. After dinner almost every night, nothing brought a smile to June’s face quicker than a bowl of ice cream.
June’s greatest gifts were her love and kindness for her family. She was fiercely loyal, faithful, loving and respectful to her husband. The bond they had to each other was with no uncertainty what kept the two of them side by side and alive into their 90s. She loved spending time entertaining and feeding their children and grandchildren every chance she had. She was a very humble person, not loud, not at all boastful. She was a great listener; she was caring, and she had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh (but not too loudly).
June will be missed by the many fortunate people whose lives she touched.