June M Banfill
June 23, 1920 - August 27, 2016

June Meyer Banfill was born in Enderlin, North Dakota on June 23, 1920 to Fred and Olga Meyer. She died in her sleep on August 27, 2016 at the age of 96. She was the youngest of three daughters. Like Ingrid Bergman she was half Swedish and half German. In 1935 during the depression her father lost his job as manager of the Farmer's Elevator Company in Enderlin because of little farming activity so they came out to Seattle where they had relatives and there were jobs. She hated to leave Enderlin - a place she loved.

June graduated from Lincoln High School, Seattle in 1938. In 1939 she met Jack Conway and Art Banfill (best friends) at the Busy Bee Café in Issaquah. She married Jack Conway soon after. They lived for awhile in Santa Monica in an apartment on the beach. They moved back to the Northwest and built a house in Seahurst, WA. They had two children, daughters Merrilee and Kathy. Jack died of an illness in 1949.

June married Art Banfill and they had two children, Steve and Sally. In 1952 Art began work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. While out for a drive one day, June and Art discovered a house for sale in Olalla, WA - a farmhouse on a cliff with a spectacular view straight down Colvos Passage. This would be their home for the rest of their lives. June soon loved the house and Olalla as much as her first home in Enderlin. She was a housewife during the fifties and sixties and a member of the world famous Olalla Ladies Lunch Club. Later she worked at the Port Orchard and Olalla school libraries. During the seventies she owned and operated Country House Antiques out of her house in Olalla. It featured early American primitive furniture that she had collected and restored over the years. She was known for her flower garden. Cars would slow to admire the profusion of varied flowers along her front porch and entry walk. Her house was featured in the Seattle P-I's weekend magazine to show how her favorite antiques and colorful wallpaper created a homey American style. She made wonderful apple and blackberry pies and a great slow cooked pot roast. She had a great sense of humor and appreciated silliness. She sang an excellent rendition of "Myrtle the Turtle and Flip Flop the Frog".

June loved the sun and vacationed in Hawaii and Mexico after Art retired. She loved mystery novels. She loved jazz. She loved desserts and liked to have pie and coffee for breakfast. She loved dogs - especially golden retrievers. She loved cats - especially Junior. And she hated snakes.

June is survived by her children - Merrilee Conway, Kathy Conway Fisher, Steve Banfill, and Sally Banfill - and her seven grand children. Art Banfill died in 1996. An informal remembrance gathering will take place at the red house in Olalla. Date will be announced later.

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