June F. McNay

On a beautiful, sunny Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015, June F. McNay, 90, died and slipped the surly bonds of earth, to enter into the presence of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She was a beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend.

June was born June 7, 1924, to Roscoe and Cora Buckner, on the family farm near the community of Ratcliffe, in southern Saskatchewan. She was the seventh of nine children. When she was 3 years old, she crawled up to sleep in a pile of coats left by hired farmhands. Not seeing her there, she was run over by a horse-drawn wagon. She was injured and her parents thought she would die; however, she recovered. This may have been the first instance of her being "prairie tough," as her sons later described her.

Growing up during the Depression was a life-changing experience, not only for Mom and her family, but for her entire generation. The Buckner family might have been a little better off than "city folk" because they could grow most of their own food.

After finishing high school, she went to work at the mental hospital in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, during World War II, and then later she took secretarial training. After the war, June met the love of her life, John D. "Jack" McNay from Saskatoon. They were married June 30, 1950, and honeymooned in the U.S., including Montana. Several years later, they moved to Sidney, then briefly to North Carolina, where their first son, Thomas Scott, was born in 1954.

Mom and Dad moved back to Sidney when Dad accepted a job as a parts manager at Gem City Motors. Their family grew with three additional sons: Reid Buckner in 1957, Lindsay John in 1959 and Shaun Patrick in 1961. It was later joked that having four boys was the source of Mom's gray hair. Mom and Dad became naturalized U.S. citizens in November of 1961. The year 1965 saw a move to the Denver suburb of Lakewood. Deciding not to raise their sons in a big city, Mom and Dad made their final move to Missoula in the summer of 1966.

Over the years, June was involved in a ladies bowling league; raising funds for the Heart Association; active in Boy Scouts and as a den mother in Cub Scouts; playing bridge with their dear friends, Arnie and Ida Kober; and church activities at Mountain View Chapel and later at Bethel Baptist.

Mom lived a full life – enjoying family gatherings, alternating Thanksgiving and Christmas, and always around the Fourth of July; trips with Dad to Florida for spring training baseball games, and to Mexico, Puerto Rico and Hawaii; watching their sons play baseball; and visits with their four grandsons and five granddaughters.

June was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Jack (1920-2005); her son Reid (1957-2012); her parents; brothers Debs, Stan and Ike; sisters Hazel, Ella Vessie and Bonnie Joan; and sister-in-law Margaret Long.

She is survived by her sons, Scott (Paula) of Luckey, Ohio, and their children Ryan, Rebekah and Rachel; Lindsay (Sue) of Great Falls and their children Carson and Kari; and Shaun (Diane) of Quincy, Washington, and their children Zachary, Lacey and Libby; daughter-in-law Pippa of Valley Center, Kansas, and her and Reid's son, Logan; brother Jon Buckner of Charlottesville, Virginia; sister Louise Jackson of Regina, Saskatchewan.; sister-in-law Betty McNay of Calgary, Alberta; and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

Her family would like to thank family friends Rick and Maggie Norman; the staffs at Hunter's Glen and Footsteps Memory Care at The Springs; and the staff at Hospice of Missoula. May God bless you for your love and kindness for our mother.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, at the Bethel Baptist Church in Missoula. Cremation and Burial Society of the Rockies assisted the family.
Read June McNay's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.