June DeSilva, a longtime resident of Oak Bluffs who was a kind and friendly person with a great sense of humor, a remarkable enthusiasm for life, and tremendous courage, died August 2 of brain cancer. She was 80 years old.
June was born in Glasgow, Scotland, one of 11 children and was raised during World War II. In search of adventure, she emigrated to the U.S. in 1957. She met her husband, Robert, in Mount Vernon, N.Y., in 1963. Their courtship was remarkably short: they went on a date on Friday and he proposed on Sunday. They were married 39 years, until his death in 2003.
June and Robert lived on County Road in Oak Bluffs from 1975 to 2003. She was a familiar face at the Vineyard Dry Goods, where she worked for the Levine family for many years before she returned to secretarial work at the Martha’s Vineyard Bank, and later, Sandpiper Realty in Edgartown.
June had a rich and fulfilling life on the Vineyard. She was an avid tennis player. She enjoyed many writing classes. She was an active member of the United Methodist Church in the Campground, and a founding member of the Scottish Society. She and her husband enjoyed many evenings dancing at the P-A Club with their good friends Marion and Bob Mackay, Eddy and Lillian Colligan, Mary and Otis Rogers, Richard and Lorraine Mavro, Kay Manning and Joe Nunes, and her sister and brother-in-law, Hazel and Bill Faria.
After the death of her husband in 2003, June moved to Healdsburg, Calif., to be near her daughter. Once again she became an active member of the community, playing tennis and golf, volunteering at the local senior center, and dancing with a large group of friends at Tuesday Nights at the Plaza.
June is survived by her brothers Norman and Graham Crawford of Glasgow, Scotland; her sister Hazel Faria and brother-in-law William Faria of Goodyear, Ariz.; and her daughter Shona DeSilva, her son-in-law Lee Bartolotta, and granddaughter Sophia Bartolotta of Duncans Mills, Calif.