June L. Proctor 1924-2008

HARRIS, NEY, PEARCE, PROCTOR, DRAKE, FLYNN

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 5/4/2008 at 19:58:13

June L. Proctor

June L. Proctor, 83, a 1940's Dubuque radio personality, died March 12, 2008 in Rockford, Ill.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday, March 17, at First Baptist Church of Peoria, Peoria, Ill., with the Rev. Tom Bayes officiating. Friends may call after 12:30 p.m. Monday, March 17, at the church.

She was born June 8, 1924, in Dubuque, daughter of Albert J. and Frances (Harris) Ney. After graduating from Dubuque Senior High School, she worked at KDTH-Radio, in Dubuque, rising to traffic manager.

She hosted The Hiland Tater Quiz, a popular radio quiz show directed at women, and also performed with Mack and Sandy Ford, in a Barn Dance program that entertained listeners in eastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois. She played the role of Minnie Pearl.

She also performed in community theatre.

She married radio personality, Hal Pearce, on Jan. 19, 1945; he preceded her in death in 1946. The birth of their daughter, Barbara, was followed and announced on the radio.

She then married Paul Proctor on March 21, 1953, whom she also met at KDTH. They moved to Peoria, where she lived until four years ago.

There she co-founded the Central Illinois Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. For her work on behalf of MS, she was given the MS Society's highest honor, the Hope Chest Award. Paul died of the effects of the disease in 1972.

June subsequently became a teacher's aide in Peoria, teaching hundreds of children to read in a career that spanned more than two decades.

Survivors are her children, Barbara (Bernie) Drake, of Peoria, and Douglas Proctor, of Rockford; grandsons, J.B. Mantz (fiancee, Lisabeth Cochola), of Chicago, Ill., Todd (Janet) Drake, of Denver, Colo., and Brent (Maria) Drake, of Brookston, Ind.; two great-grandchildren, a great-great-granddaughter; and her brother, Jack Ney.

She was preceded in death by her siblings, Al and Chuck Ney and Mary Flynn.

Copyright (c) Woodward Communications, Inc. 2008, All Rights Reserved. Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Sunday, March 16, 2008