June Marelyn (Phillips) Adams

March 24, 1954 – January 4, 2021

June Marelyn (Phillips) Adams passed away peacefully with her family at her side on January 4, 2021, after a long and courageous battle with cancer at the age of 66. June was born March 24, 1954, in Broadview, Illinois, the middle child of seven to John Phillips and Gwendolyn (Hunter) Phillips.

After having her first child, June traveled cross-country to visit with her sister in Arch Cape, Oregon before spending time in Tigard and finally settling in Astoria. It was there that she raised her first two children before joining forces with her future husband, Ken, who together raised five children.

Early on, June worked at the Hilltop Garden Center on Niagara Ave. before devoting herself full-time to raising her children. While skilled in the kitchen, often creating numerous unique and obscure dishes, June would often seek a break and send the older children out for an adventure to snag “pepperoni pickup” or Whoppers.

Once most of her children were grown up, she took up crafting fantastical moss-covered creatures (calling them “Friends of Bigfoot”) as well as sparkling, glitter-adorned oyster shell ornaments, which she frequently sold, traded, or mostly gave away at the Astoria Sunday Market.

June could often be seen walking around Astoria along the waterfront with her dogs, to pick up groceries at Safeway, heading to church and helping her granddaughter deliver newspapers. One of her mottos was: “Walk your dog and enjoy your life as it is.” Since she was an unabashedly outgoing person, she was never shy about talking to friends and strangers alike that she met at any given moment and was always focused upon the present moment.

Special moments came in the summer, when the family would camp at Fort Stevens or Spruce Run. June enjoyed bringing the camp chair into the shallows of Coffenbury Lake or the Nehalem River and reclining in the brilliant mid-day sun.

One of June’s great passions was public transportation, often riding the bus to the far off places within the region and in particular, she had a love of train travel. She would jump at the chance to catch the “Polar Express” (actually Amtrak’s Empire Builder) from Portland to Chicago, always eager to catch the sunrise as the train chugged past Glacier National Park. Her favorite stories to tell, which would always make her laugh, involved her journeys by train and bus.

At the age of 64, June made her first trip abroad to visit her son living in Romania. She welcomed the “little differences” Europe had to offer, though her fondest memory may have been hopping a train to a city on the Black Sea to collect seashells and visit thrift stores (50% off!). June lived a good life by focusing on the present moment and she imparted her sense of joy wherever she traveled.

Surviving family members include her husband, Ken; children, Jonah (LuAnne) Sperando, Philip (Hannah) Adams, Chuck (Ani) Adams, and Ethan Adams; grandchildren, Skye (David) Loeffler,

Marisol and Mateo Sperando, and Mira Nersisyan-Adams; and great-grandchild, Fox Loeffler. June’s daughter, Elisha Sperando,

preceded her in death. June’s surviving siblings include John, Linda, Pam, Dave, Paul, and Steve, as well as countless adoring nieces and nephews.

Cremation services were performed at Omega Funeral and Cremation Service in Portland, Oregon on January 8, 2021. A Memorial for June and the placement of her ashes will take place in mid-summer 2021 at one of June’s favorite places.