Obituary for
June Christine Edwards (née Galloway)
In Loving Memory of June Christine (née Galloway) Edwards
June 1, 1945 – August 5, 2022
In the early morning of Friday, August 5th, June Edwards, a devoted wife, mom, grandma, aunt, sister and friend passed away peacefully after a short but courageous battle with cancer. She will be dearly missed and forever in our hearts.
June is survived by her husband, George; daughter, Holly Stambaugh and her two children, Willow and Reid; son, Vince (Shelley) Edwards and their three children, Ethan, Seth and Grace; her sister, Cathy Galloway and her son, André (Epi) Chartrand; her brother, Tom (Bev) Galloway and their two children, Janice Galloway (Chris Waddell) and Cameron Galloway; and two nephews, Kevin Young (Christie Jones) and their two children, Oliver and Damon; and Derek Young (Gillian Clegg) and their two children, Alistair and Graham.
June was predeceased by her sister, Mary Louise Douglas (2008); and her parents, Bruce (1977) and Evelyn (1998) Galloway.
June was born on June 1, 1945, in Wiarton, Ontario to Bruce and Evelyn Galloway. She was the oldest of four siblings. Her family lived on a dairy farm outside of Wiarton that her father Bruce bought from his father, Basil. In 1952, Bruce sold the farm to the Ontario government who then built an airport in Wiarton. The family moved to Wiarton where Bruce worked for the Ministry of Transport until 1961, and then was transferred to Sault Ste. Marie (the “Soo”), where June finished her last year of high school.
From 1963 to 1967, June attended the University of Guelph and received a Bachelor of Household Science from the Macdonald Institute with a major in foods and nutrition. After graduating, she took a year of postgraduate studies for a dietetic internship at a hospital in Toronto to become a professional dietician.
After completing her dietetic internship, she decided to venture out west to Edmonton in 1968, where she worked as a pediatric dietician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and further went on to become an instructor at the School of Nursing, teaching nutrition to nursing students. Shortly after her arrival in Edmonton, she met her future husband, George. They were married on August 9, 1969, by a justice of the peace at Edmonton City Hall.
In 1972, after George completed his Bachelor of Education Degree from the University of Alberta, June and George moved out to Thorhild County to live on the homestead that his father Harry purchased in the 1920s. George went to teach at the high school in Westlock and June went to work for Alberta Agriculture as a district home economist in Thorhild. In December 1972, their daughter Holly was born and the following summer, June went to work with Alberta Agriculture as a district home economist in Westlock.
In April 1978 their son, Vincent was born and then June went on to work as a registered dietician for the Westlock Healthcare Centre until the mid-1980s. Shortly after Vincent was born, they built their dream home on the family homestead and George went on to pursue a career in the insurance industry in Westlock.
In the mid-1980s, June decided to take a break from work and stay at home until her children finished high school. In 1992, the family moved to Edmonton, and later sold the homestead in Thorhild County in 1996. Soon after their move to Edmonton, June and George purchased an insurance agency and the two of them ran the agency together until 1999. That summer they decided to move to their cabin at Birchwood Estates in Lac St. Anne County and took a break from work for a few years. In 2005, June and George went on to teach at a number of First Nation schools throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario until 2018; June teaching food and nutrition classes, helping with school administration and activities, and George teaching kindergarten through grade 12. While they were away teaching, they were excited about the arrival of their five grandchildren: Ethan, Willow, Seth, Reid and Grace and spent as much time with them as they could. In the summer of 2020, they sold their cabin and moved back to Edmonton to be closer to their family.
June’s Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, September 17, 2022, at 1 p.m. MST at Pine Valley Resort (Tawatinaw Hall), 4801 – 50 Avenue, Tawatinaw, AB, followed by an interment in Tawatinaw Cemetery.
Donations may be made in June’s memory to the Alberta Cancer Foundation, #710, 10123 – 99 Street NW, Edmonton, AB, T5J 3H1, 1-866-412-4222, albertacancer.ca/in-memory/ in support of urgent cancer needs and research.
Alberta Cancer Foundation
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of June Christine
Edwards nee Galloway 2022..
Death notice for the town of: Edmonton, Province: Alberta
I remember the day June was born, it was a very cold first day of June. Her father was at our farm helping to clear a new field of rocks and scrub trees. He was very proud of his first daughter and she became a part of our extended family. Sad to hear she died and wish we were closer so we could comfort the family at this time of grieving. If we are not with you in person we are there in spirit.