Ima June Wilkinson's Obituary
Ima June Wilkinson (Merritt) (Branscum), 77, peacefully left this world on a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon, March 11th, 2018 at her home in San Lorenzo, California. She was surrounded by her immediate family, and had many visits from her friends and family over the previous weeks.June was a three time cancer survivor, in 1998, 2005, and 2017, who never stopped fighting and never gave up, all the way to the very end.“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:13She was born in Highland, Illinois, on June 26th, 1940 to LeRoy Branscum and Lela Branscum (Corander), both of Burnside, Kentucky. She moved from Ohio to California in the 1950s, and was a resident of San Lorenzo for over 50 years.Above all else, June loved Jesus, her family, and her faithful dog Sadie. She also loved Bridgette dog, Sandy dog, puppy Moya, puppy Garrus, Roxie dog, and her new kitties, Nova and Hobbes.She loved gardening, flower arranging, cooking, buying knick-knacks, decorating, dressing up for Halloween, coffee, diet Pepsi, yogurt, vanilla ice cream, and spending time with her friends and family. She was known to sing and dance spontaneously, and had a lifelong love of music. Among her favorites were Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin and Elvis Presley.Her favorite color was pink.She would spend many days in her later years playing video games on Pogo with her sister Diann, and when one of them was ill, they would play for each other so neither fell behind.June also loved Netflix, because it let her watch all the movies and TV Shows that she liked. She especially enjoyed fantasy and sci-fi, was a longtime Star Trek fan, and really enjoyed watching Stargate with her daughter-in-law Kimberly, along with watching Family Feud and America’s Funniest Home Videos with her grandchildren. June loved Kim very much, and wanted it known how much she appreciated immensely all the years of good care that Kim gave to her as her health declined.She had many good recipes over the years, but her son’s favorite was Mom’s Good Ol’ Hamburger Helper. Potato Stroganoff with a side salad covered in Italian dressing.She always knew the answer to the question of “Who loves ya baby?”, and no doubt all of her various monkey butts will carry her in their hearts and memories for the rest of their lives.June is survived by her son John Wilkinson, her daughter-in-law Kimberly, her beloved grandchildren Becky, Danny and Hope, along with many nieces and nephews.She was predeceased by her parents and siblings Kathleen Fischer, Charlene Poynter, Betty Brock, Bill Branscum, Harold Branscum, Gerold Branscum, James Leroy Branscum, Dean Branscum, Patricia Branscum, Don Branscum, Diann Pondela, Charles Branscum and Gail Branscum.Services for June will be held on Friday, March 23rd, 2018 at 11 a.m. at the Chapel of the Chimes 32992 Mission Blvd., Hayward, CA. A viewing will take place from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 22nd, also at Chapel of the Chimes. After the Friday services, a reception will be held at First Presbyterian Church of San Leandro, 180 Estudillo Ave, San Leandro, CA 94577. All are welcome.Since it’s spring, please wear something that makes you happy, and plant something in June’s memory.
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