We would like to thank everyone that has reached out, sent a card, or left a Facebook comment on the passing of our mom, June Parsons. She never owned a computer or a fun smart phone, in spite of our multiple attempts, so has never had an online presence of her own. Her oldest granddaughter Jessica, and our cousins Duncan & Micah, broke the news of her passing to Facebook soon after she passed, sharing the news and thankfully giving us a little more time to begin processing this next chapter without her and feeling a need to rush into compiling and sharing her story. We all have stories, and we felt the need to take our time when writing hers. MEMORIES OF JUNE… EUSTIS & SOUTH PORTLAND - June Evelyn Leavitt Parsons was born in Farmington Maine on May 22, 1935, and passed peacefully at the age of 89 on March 7, 2025, at Maine Medical Center in Portland Maine with a room full of family and love surrounding her. Fully in charge, keeping the nurses and doctors on their toes with her wit and snarky attitude, up until that last afternoon when she finally made the decision to take a break and let us take over for her. We truly believed that last week would not be her last week with us, and while life would be a bit different going forward, she would still be here to give her youngest great-granddaughters more time to grow and truly remember her, and see another granddaughter marry this summer. Sadly, her ongoing heart issues finally took their toll and decisions away from us all. Both of our parents grew up in the village of Flagstaff Maine, which was flooded many years ago to create Flagstaff Lake. Mom's parents, our grandparents Evan "Dutchie" & Evelyn Leavitt, bought the store in the village from H. B. Flint in the 40's, and then after holding out as long as they could, even after selling one of the large store windows and using just a blanket to shelter the opening from the cold weather, they moved into a new store in Eustis when mom was 13. That new store, now known as the Pines Market, looked a little different then than it does now, but the memories will always be strong of spending time there with our parents and grandparents. Mom and dad had both been interviewed and filmed multiple times about living in the village and all that the move involved. Songs have also been written, and she was one of the last go-to original village residents with clear true memories of life there. Those memories are something that she always truly enjoyed sharing, even helping out a local group of students who did a school project about the flooding of the village and surrounding area. On April 28, 1956, our dad, Forest Blackwell Parsons, married mom at the Flagstaff Chapel in Eustis, followed by a reception at our grandparents Leavitt's home above their store. When they were first married, they lived in a forestry camp on Snow Mountain in the Rangeley area for the summer where mom used to carry their laundry and groceries up the mountainside to their cabin in her pack basket. Most recently she still talked about that time very fondly. Over the next years they moved a few times between Oquossoc and Eustis and back again, finally settling down in Eustis for the last time in July of 1960 where we eventually grew up beside our grandparents Percy & Julia Parsons house. While mom will most likely be remembered as a school bus driver, before that she had also worked for the Sugarloaf Chamber of Commerce, and CS Mason Real Estate on Sugarloaf, and in 1973 she was the Sugarloaf Area Association Woman of the Year. For years she was also very active with the local Lions Club, on the Board of Directors for the Cathedral Pines Campground, a contributor of so many memories and items to the Dead River Area Historical Society, and did the USPS mail run from Eustis to Coburn Gore. For her volunteer work with the Lions Club she was named the 2015-2016 Stratton-Eustis Lions Club Lion of the Year. Not one to sit around, later in life in her spare time when the grandchildren weren't with her, she also enjoyed sewing, knitting baby blankets and dish cloths, basket weaving, and refinishing furniture – much of which she had found at the "Eustis Mall" a/k/a the landfill recycling shed. Even with a variety of jobs throughout the years, her most memorable was as a school bus driver for MSAD 58 with the Mt. Abram High School express run from Eustis to Salem that she retired from. The hundreds of children, and thousands of safe travel miles transported over the years, spanned 3 generations for some of the area's families. Getting her bus license in the late 70's, she held that same bus run until she retired in the late 90's. Then even in retirement she continued to train new drivers and was a substitute driver when needed for Eustis/Stratton and Carrabassett Valley. In 1991 she was a finalist for Maine School Bus Driver of the Year. Just as memorable as her miles of safe travel bus runs will also be her cooking. Always trying out a new recipe or two, or just a repeat of the old tried and true favorites, she never met a box mix that she liked or actually wanted to cook with, other than the occasional brownie mix. Her cooking and recipes – her love language - of pumpkin bread, apple squares, morning glory muffins, and countless other assorted cakes, breads, cookies & pies will live on forever in the kitchens of her daughters, grandchildren, and those she shared baked goods and recipes with. In the middle of the COVID pandemic she made the choice to sell her home in Eustis that our great grandfathers had built. The Percy Parsons house was one of 30 original homes that were relocated from Flagstaff village due to the flooding to their current locations around Eustis. After our grandmother Julia Parsons passed mom and dad renovated her house and moved in. Which was next door to the trailer we grew up in. After her move to South Portland into the Betsy Ross House was made, she not only remained in close contact with all of her old friends in Eustis and what was happening there but also created a family of new friendships in South Portland where she continued to remain fully independent. She was active and involved in groups and special events in her building and the newly formed friendships with some in South Portland were as meaningful to her as the lifelong ones that she stayed connected to in Eustis. Mom was pre-deceased by our dad Forest in 2016 after almost 60 years of marriage. Her older brother Carroll Leon Leavitt passed away in 1991. June is survived by her daughters Lisa Nawojczyk & husband Joe of Kenduskeag, and Aleta Sellick & husband Craig of South Portland; grandchildren Jessica Langelier of Stoneham Massachusetts, Jeremy Manzer & wife Mallori of Anson, Jeffrey Manzer & wife Jessica of Gorham, Adam Sellick & wife Amanda of South Portland, Madeline Sellick & fiancé Sage Waldron of Windham, and Drew Sellick of South Portland; great-granddaughters Gabriella "Gabbi" of Anson, Ellie of Anson, Jacqueline of South Portland, and her youngest great-granddaughter Mia June of Gorham with whom she shared a truly special bond. In spite of mom's wishes to have no service or gathering of friends, we've made the decision to compromise with her (since she really can't argue with us about it anymore) for the sake of closure for us all. A graveside service will be held on Thursday, May 22nd, which would have been her 90th birthday, at the Flagstaff Cemetery in Eustis at 11:00 AM. The compromise part is that there will be no reception after the service, and instead our immediate family will be gathering to celebrate her privately and scatter her ashes with dad's. We are truly hoping that little Mia's connection with her works. Word has it that they chat and share moments every day that only a 10-month-old knows how to do, and she has put in a request for mom to give us some good weather for the day. For those that would like to, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in mom's memory to the Dead River Area Historical Society, P.O. Box 723, Stratton ME 04982. Arrangements are under the care and direction of Dan & Scott's Cremation & Funeral Service, 488 Farmington Falls Rd., Farmington, ME 04938. Not to be forgotten… To the young deviant that slashed the bus tires that night in her driveway all those years ago… She instantly knew who you were when you got on the bus that morning when you commented about how she must have had some trouble. (She was 15 minutes late with her run.) The look on your face totally gave you away when her reply was a "no", that there hadn't been any trouble. Little did you know that when she went out to start dad's tractor trailer for him earlier that morning, she noticed the bus issue and immediately called her maintenance crew, who travelled up from Strong to take care of her. We truly hope that you chose a different path in life as you grew older. And lastly, thank you for the kindest comments that we found on the previous Facebook postings... Scott C. Noble - "Being last one on the bus to MT A. I often had to sit directly behind her. She was nice to me. And Dennis was a legend too." Jay Wen Wyman - "She was a fantastic Lady." Valerie Alari - "I remember her as a great cook and bus driver." Buzz Sal - "Many great memories of bus riders with June and the ski team. One of a kind!" Julie A Bolduc - "She was one of the best bus drivers I had during school." Melissa Pare' - "What a force to be reckoned with and a heart of gold." Tom LeMont Jr. - "She was a nice Lady, always fun to talk to." Terry Newell Wills - "Such a loss. I was just thinking of her when she drove our band bus. She taught us respect for others and how to treat others." Sue Fotter - "She was a pillar of our community, if June said it, it was so." Benjamin Wyman - "June was a great person in and out. She was my bus driver through high school and didn't take shit from any of the kids. Going to miss her dearly." Yes. She was a legend, fantastic, a great cook, one of a kind, one of the best, a force to be reckoned with, had a heart of gold, a nice lady that was fun to talk to, taught respect and how to treat others, a pillar of the community, didn't take shit from anyone, and we were so lucky that she was our mom, and our kids oh so special and treasured Nanny.