Obituary

Our beloved mom, grandma and great grandma, June Galley Grinstead, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at the age of 93 at Summit Place Assisted Living surrounded by her family. June was born June 14, 1932, to LeRoy and Mary Galley in Ranger, Texas. When she was 6 years old the family moved to Washington, first to Mount Vernon and then settling in Bellingham.

June attended Roeder School, Whatcom Junior High and graduated from Bellingham High School in 1950. After graduation she went to work at the telephone company as a long-distance operator where she worked for 3 ½ years. She married Jim Grinstead on May 10, 1952, and after only three months Jim was deployed to Korea during the Korean war. She said she was certain she’d never see him again. He did return after eight months of active duty, and they started their married life. Together they had three daughters. June was an active member of Geneva Community Church when her girls were growing up, involved in Sunday School, Pioneer Girls and women’s activities. She later became a member of First Baptist Church. She spent the last four years at Summit Assisted Living Center.

June’s faith in Jesus was her strength and she was the family’s prayer warrior, spending every morning in her devotions naming each one of us. She continued this until very recently when her dementia made it impossible. She loved knitting and the family is well stocked in her “famous” wash cloths and afgans to remember her by. She was a loving caretaker of our dad for 13 years after his stroke in 1997.

June was preceded in death by her parents, husband Jim and brother LeRoy. She is survived by her daughters Kay (Craig), Karen (Patric) and Kristi (Jerry). Her grandchildren Melisssa (Nathan), Jamey (Shelby), Sara (Daniel), Justus (Jessica), Aimee and Hawlee. Great grandchildren Kayleigh, Judah, Laylah, Isabelle, Jaxton, Sebastian, Margaux and Ryan. She is also survived by her brother Les and numerous other relatives and friends.

The family wants to thank the wonderful staff at Summit Assisted Living Center for taking such good care of June these past 4 years. Memorials are suggested to Whatcom Hospice or the Lighthouse Mission.

A private family burial will be held at Greenacres. A public celebration of June’s life will be held at Greenacres on Wednesday, August 13, at 1:00 p.m.