June Keating Southwell, family matriarch
June Keating Southwell was a wonderful daughter, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and will be missed by her family and friends, who passed away Sunday, Feb. 6, 2017.
She was the second of two children. Helen K. Loukides was her older sister. Her mother was Anna W. Schlothauer and her father was William A. Keating. All of the Keatings were born in Baltimore, Md.
Most of her young life was spent in Wilmington, going to junior and senior high school. She graduated from Wilmington High School in 1942, and married Charles Southwell in 1944. At the time of their marriage Charles was a student at the University of Delaware when World War II broke out. After spending a week at Lake George in upstate New York for their honeymoon, Charles went back to the U.S. Army to New Guinea, the Philippines and Japan.
After her husband went overseas, she worked at the Millard F. Davis Jewelry Store in Wilmington, and learned to appreciate fine jewelry and sterling silver.
In 1944 the war ended and Charles returned to University of Delaware. In 1949 they had the first of their three children, Tracy. Next was their son Brand, and later they had their second daughter, Bahdra. Once Charles earned both a bachelor’s and master's degrees in mathematics, they left the Wilmington area. As a family they lived in Canada, Taunton, Mass. (for 20 years), Kingston and Cortland, N.Y., Pennsylvania, Greensboro and Wilson, N.C., Georgia and Puerto Rico twice. Charles and June retired to Lewes in 1994 until his death in 2007. She moved with her daughter Tracy to Midlothian, Va., in 2009.
Right up until her death, she kept extremely accurate accounts, knew every detail of what was happening in the world, and that the New England Patriots were going to the Superbowl. She passed away the afternoon of the big game, but would have been cheering when she heard the final outcome! We will never forget her gentleness, and kindness and most importantly how she loved her children, six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
