Obituary of June W. Pumford

June Weatherly Pumford, 85, of Jamestown NY, passed away at UPMC Chautauqua on August 24, 2023 after experiencing a sudden health emergency at home earlier in the day. June was born in Jamestown on January 9, 1938 to J. Kenneth and Alice Peterson Weatherly. She was a 1956 graduate of Jamestown High School. After many years working and raising a family, she received her associate degree from Jamestown Community College in 1989 and a BA degree from SUNY Fredonia in 1991. Following high school, June worked at Prendergast Library before moving to Boise Idaho, where she worked as a secretary. She then joined the Benedictine Sisters as a lay volunteer and served 2½ years at a Benedictine-run girls' school in Bogota, Colombia. While in Bogota she met her future husband, Robert "Bob" Pumford, a volunteer from Michigan at the Benedictine boys' high school in Bogota. They were married at Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Jamestown on July 30th, 1966. Besides loving wife and mother of four, June had many paid and unpaid roles in the community over the years, including St. James thrift store co-founder, social worker at Bush Elementary School, aged counselor at Catholic Charities, 10+ years as social worker at Heritage Village in Gerry, director and board member of Choose Life of Jamestown pregnancy center, librarian at Chautauqua Institution for many seasons, and long-serving volunteer at St. Susan Center. June was a daily communicant of Holy Apostles Catholic parish in Jamestown and maintained an active social life. She was also very active in her grandchildren's lives, attending as many of their events as possible in Western NY, PA, and throughout the Midwest. She was an avid gardener on the 55-acre small farm she and Bob shared for 55 years. June and Bob loved traveling and volunteering abroad, with time spent in China, Vietnam, Nepal, and many places in Europe. A deep interest in ancestry shared with her sister Beth led to many trips, including visiting relatives in Sweden. After June's retirement, she and Bob wintered in Orange Beach, Alabama, where they were active in St. Thomas by the Sea parish and in volunteer activities. June is survived by her husband of 57 years, Bob; sister, Beth (Wayne) Lindquist; children, Ken (Sirjana) Pumford, Brian Pumford, Valerie (Brad) Swartz, Andrew (Marianne) Pumford; and 17 grandchildren. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a sister, Linda Knight. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 2nd at Holy Apostles Parish, Ss. Peter & Paul Church. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery. Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Friday in the Lind Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to Options Care Center, 560 W. Third St., or the St. Susan Center, 31 Water St., both Jamestown, NY 14701.