June Durkin Johnson

06/22/1926 — 05/10/2017

From Kennewick, WA | Born in Danbury, CT

June Durkin Johnson

June Durkin Johnson, 90, passed away May 10, 2017 at her daughter’s home in Kennewick, WA.  June was born in Danbury, CT, on June 22, 1926, the seventh of eight children to Agnes and Denis Durkin.  She graduated from Danbury High School and received her Bachelor in Science Degree from Juilliard School of Music in 1949.  She also obtained a Master’s in Music from University of Kansas in 1950 and in 1967 earned her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Illinois.

June taught at Eastern New Mexico University for two years and then was a Professor of Voice and Opera for 28 years at Eastern Illinois University retiring in 1988.  She performed on a regular basis while at the University doing both recitals and productions.  She considered her performances as Ruth in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance” and Golde in “Fiddler on the Roof” as highlights of her career. Her influence on her students resulted in lifelong relationships that carried on to this day.  After retirement, she established her own voice coaching company, Voice Power. In 1998, she authored You Look Great, but How Do You Sound?

During her career, she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for study at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, Germany in 1958-1959.  Other honors included two scholarships to the Aspen Institute for Humanistic studies, a National Endowment for the Arts Grant at the University of Virginia, as well as a number of distinguished faculty awards at Eastern Illinois University.  She was proud of initiating Metropolitan Opera District Auditions in central Illinois in the late 1960s.   The MET recognized her efforts by inviting her as a guest for a week of Opera and Final Auditions in New York City in the early 1980s.

Outside of her career, June was a devoted mother to her two children, Anne and Jay.  She loved to travel and visited every continent but the Antarctic.  She enjoyed reading, gardening, golf and bridge.

June is survived by her two children, daughter Anne (Johnson) Koepsell of Kennewick, WA, her husband Gunter and three children, Bernie, Bianca and Eric; and son Jay Norman Johnson of Yakima, WA and his son Tyler.  She is also survived by her sister Rita (Durkin) Ginty of Danbury CT and eight great-grandchildren.

June was preceded in death by her parents; brothers Denis, William, John and Tom and sisters Mary and Agnes.

The family will be holding a private memorial service. Donations in memoriam can be made to Chaplaincy Health Care Hospice, 1480 Fowler St., Richland, WA  99352 or the organization of choice.

 

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  • Just got word today of dear June’s passing. We are forever indebted to June for several reasons. Cathy was her voice student for years at EIU, and June’s tutelage gave her a firm foundation for a successful opera career in Europe. Rex was on stage with her for the “famous” production of The Pirates of Penzance at EIU, with June’s unforgettable Ruth. And more importantly, June cleverly set us up for our first date, giving us tickets to see Carlo Bergonzi at the University of Illinois. Suffice it to say that we’re nearing our 30-year wedding anniversary, and have lived a life of adventure that she helped inspire. We last saw June when we visited her in Milwaukee, where she made us breakfast of her signature scrambled eggs with cottage cheese; we still eat eggs that way and think of her every time. May her soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

    Rex and Cathy Rund
    November 6, 2017
    Lebanon, Indiana
  • Just got word today of dear June’s passing. We are forever indebted to June for several reasons. Cathy was her voice student for years at EIU, and June’s tutelage gave her a firm foundation for a successful opera career in Europe. Rex was on stage with her for the “famous” production of The Pirates of Penzance at EIU, with June’s unforgettable Ruth. And more importantly, June cleverly set us up for our first date, giving us tickets to see Carlo Bergonzi at the University of Illinois. Suffice it to say that we’re nearing our 30-year wedding anniversary, and have lived a life of adventure that she helped inspire. We last saw June when we visited her in Milwaukee, where she made us breakfast of her signature scrambled eggs with cottage cheese; we still eat eggs that way and think of her every time. May her soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

    Rex and Cathy Rund
    November 6, 2017
    Lebanon, Indiana
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