In 1952, June went to South Africa where she trained as a nurse. It was there that she met, and fell in love with Dennis Bantjes. They were married July 4, 1953 and had their first son, Michael in 1956. Their second son, Roderick, was born in 1958. It was with these two small children that June left South Africa and came to Canada in 1959. Dennis joined her there later, and in 1963, their daughter Marian was born. Both in South Africa and in Canada she often sought the support of her Uncle Billy (twin brother of June’s mother) and Aunt Jess, and it was through them that she found her way to Yorkton, Saskatchewan after separating from Dennis. They divorced in 1965, but remained friends all of their lives.

In Yorkton, while working and raising her three children, June became involved in the Unitarian Church, the Natural History Society and the NDP, campaigning for Lorne Nystrom in 1968. She also began her University education, and in 1968 moved to Saskatoon to more easily continue her part time studies at the University of Saskatchewan. Over a period of years she earned first a B.A., then a Masters degree in Sociology. She taught sociology at the U of S, and St. Thomas More College from 1977 to 1995.
In Saskatoon she very quickly found the Unitarian Church to be a good place to make friends and engage in intellectual discussions with like-minded people. Many of the people she met there remained friends for life.

During the 1970s she began what became a lifelong commitment to political, social and humanitarian causes. June was among the pioneers of “second wave” feminism in Saskatoon. While her core commitment was to improving the lives of women, she was also active on peace, human rights and environmental issues. Her diaries of that time show involvement in a staggering number of organizations, many at the executive or steering committee level, and some of which she was a founding member. Her involvement included campaigning and awareness-raising, petitioning, protest organizing and marching, the writing of articles and pamphlets, administration, publicity (in the form of radio interviews, etc.) and many other countless roles. Organizations of note include Women and Drug Use (WADU), which “helped to bring about the cultural shift towards patients taking a much more critical and active role in their own health care”; Women for Childcare Action; the Saskatoon Environmental Society; the Saskatoon Heritage Society; Ploughshares; she was a member of the first “Herstory” collective in 1974; and was on the founding board of Working for Women in 1979. She maintained her involvement in the NDP, campaigning for Peter Prebble and John Richards, and she was also involved in the NDP splinter-group the Waffle. Her political involvement extended to international issues, such as Amnesty International; regional issues, such as protesting the damming of the Churchill River; and urban planning, land-use, and advocating low-income housing all for which she frequently attended City council meetings. In her later years she became one of the first advocates of dogs’ rights when she founded “DOGS” (Dog Owners’ Group of Saskatoon).

To her friends, June acted as “kin keeper,” taking on the role of one who serves as the focal point for connecting friendships. Many of the friendships she made along the way lasted throughout her life. Some she formed through her involvement with the Unitarian Church, the women’s movement and the Saskatchewan NDP, while some were from her days as a student at Badminton school. Many remember good food, conversation and laughter at June’s house, and others looked forward to receiving her letters. She loved to sing, dance and swim, but was especially known for her devotion to her dogs, Dounia and Phoebe. She was a voracious reader, and had the ability to choose just the right book as presents for friends and family. She grew Impatiens in the front of her house, and Geraniums in the back, along with carrots and gooseberries.

Despite the onset of Alzheimer’s she maintained her independence until 2004. During her last year she was lovingly cared for at Lutheran Sunset Home where she died peacefully in the presence of her family.

She will be remembered with love and admiration by her sons Michael and Rod, daughter Marian, Dennis Bantjes, grandchildren Guifré and Ona, brother Michael Mappin, sisters Barbara and Jenny Cuffe, Aunt Jess and by her many friends across Canada and in the UK.