Elizabeth June Lane, known as Bess June – the wife to John Lane, mother of Clem, Virginia, Diana, and Mary Kate, and proud grandmother of Harrison, Currie, Gwen, Jack, Finn, Teag, Kinzie, Billy, Maggie, and Mary Ita – died peacefully in her sleep on May 2, 2024, surrounded by her daughters.
Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Bess June went on to earn her Bachelor of Arts in English from the College of St. Teresa in Winona, Minn. She met John soon after college; they wed in 1958 and embarked on a 62-year marriage that was living testimony to the verse from the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians: “love never fails.”
Bess June’s anchoring of their home and advocating for each of her children both complemented and made it possible for her husband to pursue his vocation as a network news producer and bureau chief.
Together with her husband, she was an active, generous contributor to the social justice ministry of the Catholic Church. Bess June was engaged simultaneously in the works of mercy carried out by several organizations across the region: Red Cross blood drives through her parish, Resurrection Church in Rye; the TWIG for United Hospital in Port Chester; Helping Hands for the Hungry and Homeless in Westchester County.
For decades, Bess June and her husband, John, helped prepare Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for the guests of Part Of The Solution, P.O.T.S., a soup kitchen and shelter for the homeless and hungry in the Bronx. She also served on the board at The Osborn and for Helping Hands.
Bess June was unambiguous in communicating her unconditional love to her husband, their children and grandchildren. She had a few pleasures she shared generously with others: her love of music, from Frank Sinatra to Broadway to the Opera, and her voracious appetite for literature – Jane Austen and Anthony Trollope in particular.
Those fortunate to have had the privilege of knowing her well know this: She had an understated sense of humor that said more than you might imagine with only a raised eyebrow or the deadpan repetition of a teasing phrase, such as the one she traded with zest with her husband, “Marriage is a crapshoot.” Just not theirs.
Visitation services will take place on Monday, May 6, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Graham funeral Home, located at 1036 Boston Post Road in Rye. The funeral Mass will follow on Tuesday, May 7, at 10 a.m., at the Church of the Resurrection, at 910 Boston Post Road in Rye.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Part of the Solution, 2759 Webster Ave., Bronx, New York 10458. For more information, visit www.potsbronx.org