June Drennan WHitson
August 1, 1933 - February 24, 2025
Obituary
June Drennan Whitson
August 1, 1933 – January 24, 2025
The only child of Charles and Rose Drennan, Kathleen June Drennan grew up on the south end of Beacon Hill. Despite the Depression, “Junie” described her childhood as idyllic, and was surrounded by a tight group of neighbor kids who attended Van Asselt Grade School, Cleveland Junior High and finally Cleveland High.
A life-long musician and music-lover, she played the piano from age 4, violin in the High School orchestra, and sang in a number of choirs, most importantly the First United Methodist Church Sanctuary Choir beginning in 1953 and later the Cathedral Choir of St. James.
Junie skipped several grades early on, and at 16 graduated at the top of Cleveland High’s class of 1950. She chose not to attend college and instead went straight to work for Pacific Bell. In 1952, she decided to pursue a degree in music at the University of Washington but returned to work after just a year.
Roger Whitson, newly arrived from Illinois in 1961 to begin work at Boeing, met June in the church choir. His mild
manner complemented her sometimes headstrong ways, and they married in 1963. June left the telephone company when son Jim arrived the next year. The young couple moved into a house of Roger’s design above Auburn in 1965, and they welcomed Sharon in 1966 and Kathleen in 1970.
June attended enough night school at the UW to complete a BA in Education in 1969. For the next 20 years she looked after the household and her kids, while also working as a substitute teacher or office manager. In 2001 she and Roger
relocated to a condo on Harbor Avenue with a grand view of her favorite city. The two traveled extensively in the ensuing years.
First Church was integral to Roger and June’s lives for many years, but in the early ‘90’s June returned to her Catholic roots, and they became parishioners at St. James Cathedral, enjoying a long Indian summer in that community of faith, singing and touring with the choir.
She suffered a stroke in 2012, an event that left her wheelchair-bound and necessitated a move to the Skyline Terraces. Amazingly, her spirit never flagged, and the couple never bemoaned their reduced mobility.
June’s calendar was fearsome: densely packed and peopled by friendships from every facet of her life. Monthly meetings with old neighbors, her kids’ friends’ parents, and friends from work, church and even past cruises wove an intricate
tapestry of relationships that enriched all our lives.
She was committed to her community, whether as a lay leader at FUMC, choir member, office administrator, daily lap- swimmer at the Y, or attendee at the symphony, opera or Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She was also an urban welfare advocate, giving liberally to her church, local non-profit organizations, the arts, and even the blood bank.
June’s elephantine memory provided reliable access to our history and her early life on south Beacon. Vivid remembrances of her youth captivated us: bus rides to Pike Place Market, Rhodes Department Store, Frederick & Nelson and Manca’s Café were a testament to “Old Seattle”, that palimpsest now written over by modernity. Whether it was attending a ballgame, listening to Leo Lassen call one for the Rainiers or Dave Niehaus call one for the Mariners, mom was a fan. Especially when it came to Edgar Martinez.
June spearheaded gatherings of Roger’s siblings and their families, perpetuating a lifetime of holiday meals and long-
distance reunions. She was also attached to her uncle Joe’s family, a group of cousins living in B.C. In her 84th year, June – who was adopted at birth – was delighted to discover biological relations (nieces and nephews from two brothers, two half-sisters and a half-brother), most of them living around Puget Sound. She described them as “my late-life miracle.”
She died in Seattle at the age of 91, attended on her final day by all her kids and their spouses. She was preceded in death by Roger, who died in 2023.
June is survived by her son Jim, daughters Sharon and Kathleen; their spouses; Patty, Steve, and Nick, and her grandchildren Mo, Charles, Clayton, and Joseph.
A memorial mass will be said for June at 12:10 p.m. on Friday, February 28 at St. James Cathedral in Seattle.