Geneva “June” Jones Bradbury
June Bradbury was born in Milton, WV on August 14, 1951. She passed on April 28, 2025 at the Emogene Dolin Jones Hospice House in Huntington, WV. The life she lived in between those two days was much like the quilts she so lovingly made for others: patched together from various pieces, stitched together with strength and love, and a little crazy. June grew up in Milton, WV, the daughter of Emogene Dolin Jones and Chalmer Jones. She learned to sew and to care for others from her mother, and to laugh and love music from her father. The winter after she graduated from high school, she was working the cash register at her mother’s diner in Milton when John Bradbury came in for a meal while waiting on a bus. He came back the next week and asked her on a date. They were married six months later, a row of stitches in the quilt of her life that grew stronger and more steadfast over their almost 55 years together. The family that followed is a patchwork of love and joy. Their children Monica (Adkins) and Jim came first, followed by their spouses (June didn’t do in-laws) Paul and Jennifer, respectively. June always said she had four children instead of only two. She also had a special bond with Todd Reynolds, who she thought of as a son as well. Her patchwork quilt grew with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Granddaughter Alexandria Adkins Blackshire and her husband Jake, grandson Sawyer Adkins and his wife Amber, granddaughter Evelyn June Bradbury and grandson Arun Saroj Bradbury all were sewn firmly into the fabric of her heart. Her five great-grandsons–Isaac, Benjamin, Will, Jacob and Joel–brought so much color, chaos and light in the last years of her life.
June crafted a tapestry of friendships and hearts she touched through her work and life. She volunteered as a Girl Scout leader and den mother for Cub Scouts and Sunday school teacher when her children were young. As they grew up, she went back to school and earned her RN nursing diploma from St. Mary’s in Huntington, receiving the Spirit of Nursing Award. From there she embarked on an impressively diverse career sewn together with a common thread: caring for others. She worked as a floor nurse, in doctors’ offices, and as an advocate for children and families with developmental disabilities. She helped deliver hundreds of babies (including some of her own grandchildren) through her work as the nurse coordinator of the Birth Center in Teays Valley. She provided home health services for rural corners of West Virginia, logging thousands of miles in the Honda her husband so lovingly maintained. And she spent a decade training new Certified Nursing Assistants to care for the sick and vulnerable. She was beloved by her students for her fierce love for all her “mawmaws and pawpaws” and her uncompromising standards for their care.
Though it wasn’t until the last part of her working life before she retired that she fell into the official role of teaching, she was a teacher at heart. Whether it was with her CNA students or the nurses in her recent hospital stays, she taught them to work diligently, but with grace and good humor. She taught those that knew her well to work hard, and to not be afraid of whatever a job required. She could run a tractor or paint a room with as much precision as she could remove a stitch, and all who knew her were touched by her grit, heart of gold, open arms, and persistence. She taught many who knew her how to sew, how to make a really great frizzled potato, and how to laugh when they needed it most. She showed many how to face fears, and that even in dying, they could live well. Since her diagnosis with stage four lung cancer two years ago, she sea kayaked in the Puget Sound, roadtripped with her daughter, flew to Florida with her beloved sister, went skydiving, continued quilting with her sewing circle friends, and worshipped with her church family at People’s Community Church. Most of all she taught all who knew her what it meant to love deeply and tenderly, to love Jesus–and to be loved by Jesus–with abandon and hope. She made us all a better version of ourselves. To be loved by June Bradbury was an extraordinary thing.
June is survived by the above-mentioned family members as well as her cherished sister Sue Ward of St. Albans, WV, beloved brother William Dolin (Lois) of Ocala, FL as well as numerous nieces and nephews and other beloved family and friends. She was preceded in death by her father Chalmer Harold Jones, her mother Emogene Dolin Jones, her brother David Dolin, sister Lois Hagen, sister Jane Davis, brother-in-law Paul Davis Jr., sister-in-law Jill Dolin, and brother-in-law Doug Ward.
The family wishes to thank . . .
Over the course of her treatment, June made indelible impressions with many doctors and nurses, many of whom sought her out to visit even after her treatment ended, and many of whom were touched by her heart, humor and spirit. Those caregivers made a huge difference in June’s life as well. Special thanks to her entire medical team at Joan C. Edward Cancer center, Cabell Huntington Hospital (especially the 1st floor Observation Unit and the Second floor staff), J Robert Pritchard Dialysis Center at CHH, and the Emogene Dolin Jones Huntington Hospice House.
In her honor . . .
As she lived, June would want us to live as well by giving to others. Suggested ways to honor her are flowers, donations to Hospice House of Huntington, planting a tree or flower, visiting the elderly, volunteering, learning something new and above all, getting yourself to church and accepting the love of Jesus.
Visitation will be Sunday, May 4, 5-7 pm. The funeral will be Monday May 5, 11 am, both at Wallace Funeral Home, Milton WV. The burial will follow immediately after at Forest Memorial Park, Milton, WV. Pastor Rob Laukoter of People’s Community Church will officiate.
The family invites anyone coming to the services to wear their most comfortable Sunday best in June’s favorite color–blue.
