June Day Burbank, beloved 30-year Kennebunk elementary school teacher, passed away Aug. 31 at her home of 64 years in Kennebunk. She was surrounded by family, and had been under hospice care for just over a year having congestive heart failure.
She had just celebrated her 90th birthday on June 2 with an outpouring of love from the family and community by three days of celebration. She was honored by the community with a surprise of an organized drive by the house parade of former students and colleagues to which she was quite overwhelmed and so appreciative. June was interred Sept. 6, 2023, with her husband at Southern Maine Veterans Cemetery, Springvale.
June was born in 1933 in Ottawa, Canada, in the Salvation Army Hospital to Hubert Wesley Pettipiece, Kars, Ontario and Helen Mira Bennett, Camden, Maine. June moved to Camden at age 5 and lived with her grandparents, Edith and Hollie Bennett, while her father Hubert joined the Canadian army in World War II to provide for his family. It was in Camden that June went to school until age 13. She was very involved with the Girl Scouts and earned many badges.
In 1954 her mother remarried and June and family moved to Bangor where she completed high school. It was there she met her husband, Harold, who was “the boy next door” and he would drive her to University of Maine in Orono to attend college where she earned a BA in home economics and elementary education. June worked college summers at the Narragansett Hotel, Kennebunk Beach.
June married Harold in 1956 in Camden and they lived in Bangor when first married. They were married 61 years prior to Harold’s passing in 2017.
In 1959, after having their third child, June and Harold moved their family to Kennebunk. June started a pre-school in their home for two years from 1961-1963 where many in the community attended. In 1964, she began her extensive teaching career in the Kennebunk schools, teaching 10 years of first grade and 20 years of kindergarten at Cousens School and the Youth Center.
One of her standouts was her “blow up letter people” which hung all around her classroom. Students loved learning the alphabet and language using them. After retirement, June volunteered as a librarian at Cousens School for a while and also ran a day care out of her home for two years. June taught Sunday School and sang in the choir at The Congregational Church in Kennebunk. She was very involved with the Brownies and Girl Scouts with her daughter. June taught over 4,000 students in her career in Kennebunk including multiple generations of established families, many of which requested her. Her reputation for homemade Santas and Easter rabbits, and similar gifts to every child became legendary.
June loved being a mother and a teacher. She loved children and they loved her. You would find June at the school nights and weekends decorating her room for holidays or educational lessons to come. She was a truly dedicated teacher who wanted to have an impact on young minds.
June was a member of the Red Hat Society and was the Queen for many years organizing fun outings and activities with the ladies. Mom always said she was a “party girl.” She loved being a part of this group and shared many stories of their events.
June enjoyed knitting and sewing and wanted to be a fashion designer. She was a beautiful seamstress and made her own wedding dress and also her sister Bettylou’s wedding dress. She also made many of her children’s and grandchildren’s clothes to include gowns for formals and matching outfits for her grandchildren. She loved making holiday outfits. She also knit sweaters, hats, and mittens for her family and prayer shawls for the community. June loved her family and having them visit her. She would bake up a storm on the holidays to ensure each member had their favorite item. She had a special family recipe for pumpkin bread which she has passed down to the family to continue.
June also loved the beach. She took her children every day in the summer when they were small to Mother’s Beach and then to the Dairy Joy after for a treat. She was also able to have a final trip to the beach and a trip to the Dairy Queen before she passed. In her final days she was so happy to have visited with or talked to on the phone all of the family prior to her passing. This was her wish.
June leaves behind three children, Harold Burbank II (Marianne) Canton, Connecticut; David Burbank(Susan Roberts), Wakefield, New Hampshire; and Lori Darnell(James), Raleigh, North Carolina; grandchildren Harold Burbank(Mary), Middletown, Connecticut; Anna Burbank(Aaron Medford), Wethersfield, Connecticut; Kristie Cason, Sanford; Adam Burbank(Ashley), North Berwick; Ariel Slingerland(Noah), Johnson City, Tennessee; and Joshua Darnell, Raleigh; great-grandchildren Keegan Cason, Sanford; Jackson and Charlie Burbank, North Berwick; and Chace and Raelynn Slingerland, Johnson City; sister Bettylou Mc Gill(Fran), Simsbury, Connecticut; nephews Stephen McGill(Julie), Danville, California; and Brad McGill( Mary Jane), Needham, Massachusetts.
The family would like to thank mom’s primary care giver for over a year Sarah Lemay for her love, care, and compassion in taking care of June. We are truly grateful! Mom loved you very much!
We would also like to thank the entire hospice team of Southern Maine Hospice for their compassion and care who have been part of mom’s care. She thoroughly appreciated you all so much and loved you all as well. We are truly thankful for all of you!
In lieu of flowers if you would like to make a donation, June asked that you do so to Hospice Of Southern Maine, 390 Route 1, Scarborough, ME, 04074.
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