Margarett June Hill Payne

June had two brothers (Ralph D. and Ward E.), and two sisters (Francis Lee and Laurel Faye), together their large family lived on their 125 acre farm. She was seventeen, (1944), when her family moved to Long Beach, California. A year later she graduated from Jordan High Shool.

One of June's favorite memories from her childhood was August 14, 1945, her 18th birthday. It was the day that Japan surrendered and World War II was declared over. Thousands of people were celebrating in the streets. She once stated, "it was great that all these people had come out to celebrate my birthday".

That summer June worked first at a wholesale hardware company, and then at an LP record manufacturer where she pressed vinyl records in a molding press. During this time June moved out of her family home and rented a room from a couple. That is where she met her future husband, Ernest A. Payne.

When Ernie had called home to say his ship was in Long Beach for a while, he was told to make sure and stop by his aunt and uncle's for a visit. It was there that he was introvudced to their renter, a beautiful woman named Margarett June Hill.

Their first date, and several others were at the Long Beach Pike Pier, which was the west coast answer to a boardwalk in 1945. She would meet with Ernie all through September while he was stationed on the USS Wisconsin.

June and Ernie were married on December 9, 1945. In January 1946, Ernie was shipped out to the Pacific. June stayed in Long Beach for a time and then moved to Woodlake, California where she stayed with her mother and father-in-law (Lorney and Rella Payne), until Ernie was discharged from the Navy (1946).

June and Ernie started married life in Woodlake. They were blessed with four sons, Tommy, Johnny, Jimmy and Leslie. Sadly June's youngest son Leslie Allen passed away in 1954. June and Ernie loved to travel, and so it took them a few years to settle down. Eventually they settled in Santa Ana, California and made it home for 31 years.

In addtion to helping with the family barber shop, June worked for 20 years at the Santa Ana Community COllege before retiring and moving with her husband to Lake Isabela. June and Ernie often traveled in their motor home with their dog, Shu-shu; visiting family and friends, going on camping trips and fishing. June was an avid reader. She aso had several hobbies, such as painting, baking, playing piano, sewing, crochet, knitting and needlepoint. Thede are skills that she passed onto her grandchildren whenever they came to visit.

June was active in her community, she joined the lake Isabella Ham Radio club as their historian. One year they were even featured as Santa and Mrs. Claus in the annual Christmas parade.

Ernie passed away in 2007. June continued to travel and spend time with her family and friends before settling down with her son, Tommy and his wife, Tammy in Washington. While she was there, she sometimes helped in Tom's practice, enjoyed day trips to the coast and spent time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

In 2013, June, Tom and Tammy decided to move to Arizona so that they could spend time with another part of the family. In addition to time spent with the grandkids, June also enjoyed the community that they had come to live in. She played pinochle with the neighbors and learned to enjoy the local casino's slot machines and participated in other hobbies, and continued reading. She always enjoyed family and friends around her.