June Laree Jessop

June LaRee Jessop, 85, was accompanied by close to one hundred loved ones when she peacefully passed away after midnight on October 24th, 2022. June was born, December 1st, 1936 in Sparks, Nevada to Theodore Weidow and Virginia Bertelson. June described her early years as humble and frugal. She felt a connection to music and nature, spending time in the mountains near her home singing gospel hymns. June met her soul mate, Morris Yeates Jessop, after her family moved to Utah, where she would finish out high school. June recognized Morris as a humble, gentle man and knew that she wanted to serve the Lord as his wife. Morris and June were married in the summer of 1953, going into her senior year of high school. June was ambitious and competitive. She graduated at the top of her class, turning down academic scholarships to instead begin her life and build a family with Morris. Shortly after graduating, June and Morris welcomed their first of 22 children. June felt fortunate to have lived out her calling as a midwife. She was appointed to serve her community as a midwife when she and Morris moved to Montana in 1962 as pioneering settlers of Pinesdale. June had an accomplished and enduring career, delivering almost 1,600 babies and garnering respect from local peers. When on delivery duty, she was easily identified driving a truck Morris painted for her in her favorite colors, sky blue pink with purple polka-dots. She was especially adored by the children of her clients who came to know her as Grandma June, the provider of gummy bears. June welcomed new life beyond delivering babies. She maintained her love of nature by tending to a flourishing yard in the mountains of Montana that boasted a Russian Olive tree, Japanese blossom, purple irises, lilac bushes, fruit trees, rose beds, a fruit and vegetable garden, and so on. Her home was a sanctuary for birds, bees, and even children. The neighborhood children would regularly gather in her yard to play pick-up basketball on the slab, baseball in the field, swing on the swing set Morris built or the rope swing the kids installed that treacherously hung from a large pine tree over a steep hill. June’s yard and gummy bears helped her secure a reputation as Grandma June in her later years. Her affectionate and comforting spirit served well with the sweets that she offered the constant visitors that came through her doors. She was well known for her homemade chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, apple sauce, rhubarb pudding, and cherry cheesecake. June had an abundance of love and blessings to share with all of the lives she welcomed into the world and that passed through her home. June was preceded in death by five of her children and her husband, Morris. Before passing in 2014, Morris asked that June retire from deliveries and rest. To keep her promise, she delivered her last baby in 2015. After steadily serving her community for 52 years, June was able to slow down in the final years of her life while she anticipated her own delivery into heaven where she could be reunited with the loved ones who passed on before her.

A graveside service will be held 1:00 p.m., Thursday, October 27, 2022, Pinesdale Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to C.A.T.C.H. (Citizens Acting Together Creating Harmony), Town of Pinesdale, P.O. Box 410228, 1625 Bowman Rd., Pinesdale, MT 59841