June Elizabeth Patton 
7/19/1920-7/26/2020

June was born in San Jose on July 19, 1920 to John and Lillian Woodward. She grew up in San Jose and married Ben Patton April 16, 1938. They had three daughters, Joan Gear, Ginger Anderson and Linda Gustafson

While living in San Jose she was a housewife and mother. She was very involved in all her daughters’ lives through the years.

In 1959 they moved to Eureka to run a business called McBride Motors and she worked in the office.

She was blessed with five grandchildren – Sheri Gear, Mark Anderson, Dianne Gear, Lynn Porter and Darin Gustafson. She was a very loving grandmother and enjoyed spending time with them.

She and Ben retired to Myers Flat, but were flooded out of their property there and moved to Weott.

She started volunteering at the Burlington Park Visitor Center when Ben passed away in 1985 and it became her home away from home. She was there six days a week only because she had to do her shopping and get her hair done on Fridays. She put in just over 17,000 volunteer hours.

She had many friends from that experience — workers, volunteers and rangers. There wasn’t a person she met that she didn’t like. Most friends became family. She had many “adopted” daughters through the years which were friends of her daughters.

She would keep a little notebook at the Center and ask visitors their names and where they were from.

She moved to Sequoia Springs in 2017 and continued to thrive, making many new friends, and old friends came to visit her regularly. She knew all the employees there and would always make sure she knew their names and asked them about their families.

She just turned 100 on July 19 and because of the coronvirus was unable to have a big celebration, but a drive through was planned by her favorite ranger, Alan. He had fire trucks drive by and many friends drove through and it just made her day so special. Her favorite Smokey the Bear showed up in a fire truck too. He showed up a many events for her over the years. She will be missed by many.

In our current situation with the Covid-19 virus we will not be having a service at this time.

They are going to dedicate the theater room at the Visitor Center in her name in September. Donations may be made in her name to the Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive Association, which runs the Visitor Center. The address is HRIA, P. O. Box 276, Weott, CA.