June Ann (Ward) Jennison, child of God, died on October 2, 2019, one month shy of her 90th birthday.
June was born on November 8, 1929 in Borger, Texas, but she moved with her family to Holcomb, Kansas as a child.
She graduated from Garden City High School, attended Garden City Community College, graduated with a B.S. in Education from Emporia State University, and received her M.S in Speech Pathology from Kansas University.
June moved to Salina in 1953 to start the Speech Therapy program in the Salina Public School system. Introduced by mutual friends, she married the love of her life and soul mate, Ken Jennison, on August 7, 1955. She continued in private practice as a speech therapist after the birth of her children.
Filled with a passion for life, June had a wide range of interests and was a life-long learner. Her love for music was instilled by parents who had once performed in Vaudeville, continued as she played first clarinet in high school and then at Emporia State, and was nurtured by the music she enjoyed through the talents of her children and grandchildren.
With Ken, she traveled to every state in the United States, and kept meticulous scrapbooks detailing their adventures.
In midlife, she learned how to create wheat weavings, and gifted many of her friends and family with her beautiful art.
June was very proud of her work at the YWCA of which she was a founding board member and fervent supporter. An excellent swimmer, and 1,000 mile club winner, June won the most honored participant award from the YMCA in 2001 at the age of 72. She raised the most money in the annual swim-a-thon to benefit the Y for five years.
A lifelong member of the United Methodist Church, she was a member of the Crusader’s Sunday School Class, Circle # 3, and served as the President of United Methodist Women in Salina’s First United Methodist Church, as well as boards at the District and Annual Church levels.
Her greatest passion was her volunteer work with many agencies, which started when her children were young with PTA, Girl Scouts, and Asbury Hospital. She later served on the Board of Directors for Kansas Wesleyan University, and was also very involved with the Saline County 4-H program, from leadership in the local Sasnak club to being chairman of the 4-H Ambassador Program, and eventually sponsoring college scholarships through the 4-H Development Fund for students seeking careers in a Communication field. She loved judging 4-H notebooks and speeches at the County Fair and Club Days.
June is preceded in death by her father, John William Ward; her mother, Gladys Everett Ward; and her brother, John Ward, Jr. She leaves a loving and grateful family, including her husband of 64 years, Kenneth J. Jennison; sister-in-law, Carmen Ward; daughter, Cynthia Jennison (Rick Obenshain); son, David Jennison (Kathi); and daughter, Becky Lewis (Tom); as well as 6 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren; and friends and lives touched- too numerous to name! Though we will miss her, we all rejoice that June is now worshiping with the saints in the joy of her heavenly home, as she hears those blessed words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
A Celebration of Life service will be at 2 p.m., Tuesday, October 8, at First United Methodist Church, Salina, with a private family inurnment in Gypsum Hill Cemetery, Salina.
Memorials may be made to The Saline County 4-H Development Fund or First United Methodist Church, in care of Ryan Mortuary, 137 N 8th St, Salina, 67401.