Page created by: Darlene Rubino

Early Years:
June Eileen Purdy was born in 1919 in St. Paul, Minnesota to Lora Edna North and Benjamin Harrison Purdy just months after World War I concluded. When June was quite young, the family moved to New York City for her father's job.

June and her older sister Hazel grew up in difficult times and had to deal with constant rationing and shortages. June was only ten when the Great Depression hit the country, and twenty when World War II replaced the depression.

June always believed education was the key to success and in 1940 she received her Bachelor of Arts in Statistics from Hunter College. After graduation, she briefly took a job with the Union Pacific Railroad in Portland, OR - until her father summoned her back - "If I have to walk there to get you."

Adulthood:
Back on the east coast, June met her brother-in-law's coworker from Washington, Walter Rankin Silvester. He soon became her closest friend, and later, her husband of sixty two years.

They were married in New York City on a foggy Saturday, July 28, 1945. June was 26 and Walt was 28. They settled in Washington DC and for the first 20 years of her marriage, June was a stay-at-home housewife and mother. By 1953, they had three children: Lora, Roy, and Eric.

In 1967, with her children now requiring less of her attention, June started working as a librarian for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA was rushing to put a man on the moon, and she loved being a part of the effort. When she was in her sixties, and still working full time, she earned a Master's degree in Library and Information Science, from Catholic University, in Washington, She worked for NASA until 2005, retiring at age 86.

Interests:
June had quite a sweet tooth, but did not touch alcohol, seafood, or tomatoes, due to allergies. She loved books, and had many other interests. She loved opera, and baseball, and although she attended few in person, she often listened to them on the radio.

Throughout June's life, writing was a recurring theme. In addition to writing a weekly column for the Prince George's Post newspaper, she authored works on such diverse topics as computer-aided indexing, stained glass church windows and the National Arboretum. She had several poems published and was an aspiring children's book author as well.

In her spare time, she also created scrapbooks for children's hospitals in the area and traced her ancestry back to the Mayflower.

June and Walt were longtime members of the Cheverly Swim Club and active in the Cheverly Community Church. They were also scout leaders for their children, and were longtime members of clubs for puppetry, genealogy, and poetry.

Later Years:
Sadly, Walt died in 2008, from complications following an automobile accident. He was buying her a Valentine's present and was 92. Within a few years, June moved to Riderwood, a retirement community a few miles away, where she was also very involved. She was active in the poetry club, Wii bowling club, Genealogy Club, Writer's guild, Poetry Club, and Actors Studio Players.

She was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease in recent years, but always maintained her sense of humor.

June died at age 98, and is survived by her daughter Lora (Kirk), sons Roy (Darlene) and Eric (Katherine), 8 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.