June Enid Stiers, 104 ½, died in her sleep just before sunrise on May 19, 2025 at Seacrest Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, Little Egg Harbor, NJ.

Born on Monday, December 13, 1920 in the home of her grandmother Julia L. Nelson in Chillicothe, IL to Harry E. Nelson and Clara Orilla Fogg Nelson, the family moved when June was four years old to Peoria, IL where she spent her growing up years.

June graduated salutatorian of her Central High School class after which she worked for Western Union, reading teletype. She joined the U.S. Navy WAVES in 1943. There she was a storekeeper trained in running and repairing gyroscopes for Navy submarines. She was discharged in 1945. She worked for Bogard Drug Store and a photographer until she married Art.

On April 12, 1950, June married Arthur M. Stiers and combined their families to include two boys and one girl. Together they had another boy and a girl. For a few years she was a homemaker before going back to work in 1958 for Western Union. In 1965 she became a catalog librarian for Bradley University until her retirement in 1977.

Moving to Merriam Woods, near Branson Missouri in 1977, June taught herself watercolor and oil painting. She enjoyed her church and all the Branson area offered.

In 2004, she and Art moved to Whiting, NJ, to be close to her son Bruce and his wife Jane. She was able to live in her home until she was 101, with help from her son and his family. A piece of dark chocolate every day contributed to her long life.

June is survived by three sons, Gary R. (Bette) of LaCrosse, WI, Arthur G. (Bea) of Pensacola, FL, and Bruce F. (Jane) of Little Egg Harbor, NJ. and two daughters, Michaele A. Hall (Tom Gores) of Durango, CO and Barbara S. (Gary) Herrli of Boulder, CO, as well as 12 grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren, and her niece, Marijane Thomas, of Hanna City, IL.

Preceding her in death were her parents, her sister Ruth Shackelford (2012), and her husband Art in 2010.

Private family services will be held in late June 2025 at Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Wrightstown NJ.

The family thanks you for all your heartfelt wishes and kind remembrances.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to: Peoria Heights Arts Collaborative, 4541 N. Prospect Road, Suite 300B, Peoria Heights, IL 61616, or the art charity of your choice.

For further information, go to manchestermemorial.net