June Christine Spandet Foster
October 4th, 1923 - January 8th, 2024
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June's Obituary
June Christine Spandet Foster died peacefully on Monday, January 8th, at her home in The Mather in Evanston, Illinois, surrounded by several of her children and her sister Barbara. She lived beyond her 100th birthday, completing the full year of her 100th celebration with family dinners on Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
June Spandet was deeply imprinted by the close Danish immigrant community of Dwight where she spent the formative years of her childhood. The warm sense of belonging to a close knit immigrant community centered around the Danish Lutheran church never left her. June fondly remembered Sunday afternoon gatherings listening raptly to the men’s lively discussions of politics, theology, and the morning’s sermon.
In 1933, in the depths of the Depression, June’s father took a job at the Federal Home Loan Association of Grundy County. The family uprooted from Dwight and moved to Morris, Illinois, where she began her fifth grade year.
The oldest of an ambitious immigrant family, June was expected to excel academically. Fortunately, she loved learning and was an apt student, so she rose to the top of her class. In high school, she held many leadership positions, particularly distinguishing herself on the debate team. She graduated in 1940 valedictorian of her class. Her parents, determined that June have the college education they never had, selected Lindenwood College, a small women’s liberal arts college in Missouri. After one year, her father transferred her to Purdue Univ., which had “practical classes” and was co-ed.
June met Robert David Foster her senior year in high school when he gave her a ride to Plano, a nearby town. Robert was a young dental student in Chicago at the time, and after three years of courtship, they married on March 19, 1944, just before Bob was deployed to the South Pacific to serve in the Navy. They began their married life in San Diego, California, where they encountered the ocean together for the first time and fell in love with swimming in the waves and the warm, coastal world of California, a love that would continue to call them back for visits each winter in their later years.
When her husband was deployed to a destroyer tender in the Pacific Theater, June returned to finish her college degree at Univ. of Illinois/Champaign, where she graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Journalism The pull of family dragged June and Bob away from California and back to Illinois in 1947. Bob established a dental practice in Aurora and in 1952, with the birth of their first child, Kristin, they began their family. Soon after Kristin arrived, they moved to the house in which June would raise her five children (Melissa, David, Barbara and Meg), all born within a decade.
June poured heart and soul into her home and family. She cultivated a family culture based on love of reading and learning, music, connection to nature, lively dinner discussions and concern for the larger world. In 1960, the family began spending summers on the shores of Lake Michigan in a small rustic cottage without modern amenities. There, her family deepened their family bonds, their connection to the natural world and delight in reading. June was the visionary who inspired a local movement that has now protected a critical natural habitat corridor under the auspices of Chikaming Open Lands.
As a woman of many talents and interests, she joined civic and intellectual groups that would sustain her and connect her with a group of likeminded women. She was an active member of AAUW (the American Association of University Women), The League of Women Voters, Minerva Coterie (said to be the oldest women’s book club in the country), and held various civic leadership positions. June also had an insatiable curiosity for the world and enthusiasm for travel. She visited every state but Alaska, over 30 countries and every continent except Australia and Antarctica.
All of June’s children pursued liberal arts degrees and later advanced degrees in ministry, law, education and social service. Four of the five children returned to the Chicago area and raised their children in close contact with their grandparents. After 57 years living in Aurora in the same home, June and Bob moved to Evanston, Illinois, where they could live in close proximity to many of their children. They took up residence at the Mather and worshipped at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church.
She was an intrepid traveler, eternal learner, lover of beauty, and a vitally engaged member of her community, but above all, she was a devoted, deeply loving mother who was always there for her children in any need.
June was preceded in death by her parents, Olga Regina Skafgaard Spandet and Jens Jessen Spandet, her sister Shirley “Sally” Spandet Birkelbach, and her husband Robert David Foster. She is survived by her sister, Barbara Gazzolo, her five children Kristin Foster (Frank Davis) of Cook, Minnesota, Melissa Foster of Chicago, Illinois, David Foster (Melissa Wynne) of Evanston, Illinois, Barbara Foster (Dennis Coalson) of River Forest, Illinois, and Margaret Foster (Christoph Bruns) of Evanston, Illinois, her ten grandchildren, Tyler Foster Davis (Michael Boulette), Emily Foster Davis (Weston Tardy), Calder Foster Coalson (Lena Zurayk) , Matthew Wynne Foster (Jenna Wolfenson Foster), Elam Foster Coalson (Zosia Krusberg-Coalson), Caroline Wynne Foster, Gareth Foster Coalson, Aidan Foster Coalson, Benjamin Foster Bruns, and Nikola Foster Bruns, and four great grandchildren, Harriet Davis-Boulette, Frances Davis-Boulette, Neeley Davis-Boulette, Misha Coalson, plus numerous nieces, nephews, and other family members who will cherish her forever.
A funeral service, officiated by June’s daughter, Rev. Kristin Foster, will be held Sat., Jan. 20, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Evanston (1004 Greenwood St.). In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be designated to any of three charities that June was devoted to:
1.League of Women Voters, PO Box 96837, Washington, DC 20090; www.lwv.org
2.Chikaming Open Lands, 12291 Red Arrow Highway, Sawyer, MI 49125; www.chikamingopenlands.org
3.St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 1004 Greenwood St., Evanston, IL 60201; www.stpaulevanston.org
June Spandet was deeply imprinted by the close Danish immigrant community of Dwight where she spent the formative years of her childhood. The warm sense of belonging to a close knit immigrant community centered around the Danish Lutheran church never left her. June fondly remembered Sunday afternoon gatherings listening raptly to the men’s lively discussions of politics, theology, and the morning’s sermon.
In 1933, in the depths of the Depression, June’s father took a job at the Federal Home Loan Association of Grundy County. The family uprooted from Dwight and moved to Morris, Illinois, where she began her fifth grade year.
The oldest of an ambitious immigrant family, June was expected to excel academically. Fortunately, she loved learning and was an apt student, so she rose to the top of her class. In high school, she held many leadership positions, particularly distinguishing herself on the debate team. She graduated in 1940 valedictorian of her class. Her parents, determined that June have the college education they never had, selected Lindenwood College, a small women’s liberal arts college in Missouri. After one year, her father transferred her to Purdue Univ., which had “practical classes” and was co-ed.
June met Robert David Foster her senior year in high school when he gave her a ride to Plano, a nearby town. Robert was a young dental student in Chicago at the time, and after three years of courtship, they married on March 19, 1944, just before Bob was deployed to the South Pacific to serve in the Navy. They began their married life in San Diego, California, where they encountered the ocean together for the first time and fell in love with swimming in the waves and the warm, coastal world of California, a love that would continue to call them back for visits each winter in their later years.
When her husband was deployed to a destroyer tender in the Pacific Theater, June returned to finish her college degree at Univ. of Illinois/Champaign, where she graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Journalism The pull of family dragged June and Bob away from California and back to Illinois in 1947. Bob established a dental practice in Aurora and in 1952, with the birth of their first child, Kristin, they began their family. Soon after Kristin arrived, they moved to the house in which June would raise her five children (Melissa, David, Barbara and Meg), all born within a decade.
June poured heart and soul into her home and family. She cultivated a family culture based on love of reading and learning, music, connection to nature, lively dinner discussions and concern for the larger world. In 1960, the family began spending summers on the shores of Lake Michigan in a small rustic cottage without modern amenities. There, her family deepened their family bonds, their connection to the natural world and delight in reading. June was the visionary who inspired a local movement that has now protected a critical natural habitat corridor under the auspices of Chikaming Open Lands.
As a woman of many talents and interests, she joined civic and intellectual groups that would sustain her and connect her with a group of likeminded women. She was an active member of AAUW (the American Association of University Women), The League of Women Voters, Minerva Coterie (said to be the oldest women’s book club in the country), and held various civic leadership positions. June also had an insatiable curiosity for the world and enthusiasm for travel. She visited every state but Alaska, over 30 countries and every continent except Australia and Antarctica.
All of June’s children pursued liberal arts degrees and later advanced degrees in ministry, law, education and social service. Four of the five children returned to the Chicago area and raised their children in close contact with their grandparents. After 57 years living in Aurora in the same home, June and Bob moved to Evanston, Illinois, where they could live in close proximity to many of their children. They took up residence at the Mather and worshipped at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church.
She was an intrepid traveler, eternal learner, lover of beauty, and a vitally engaged member of her community, but above all, she was a devoted, deeply loving mother who was always there for her children in any need.
June was preceded in death by her parents, Olga Regina Skafgaard Spandet and Jens Jessen Spandet, her sister Shirley “Sally” Spandet Birkelbach, and her husband Robert David Foster. She is survived by her sister, Barbara Gazzolo, her five children Kristin Foster (Frank Davis) of Cook, Minnesota, Melissa Foster of Chicago, Illinois, David Foster (Melissa Wynne) of Evanston, Illinois, Barbara Foster (Dennis Coalson) of River Forest, Illinois, and Margaret Foster (Christoph Bruns) of Evanston, Illinois, her ten grandchildren, Tyler Foster Davis (Michael Boulette), Emily Foster Davis (Weston Tardy), Calder Foster Coalson (Lena Zurayk) , Matthew Wynne Foster (Jenna Wolfenson Foster), Elam Foster Coalson (Zosia Krusberg-Coalson), Caroline Wynne Foster, Gareth Foster Coalson, Aidan Foster Coalson, Benjamin Foster Bruns, and Nikola Foster Bruns, and four great grandchildren, Harriet Davis-Boulette, Frances Davis-Boulette, Neeley Davis-Boulette, Misha Coalson, plus numerous nieces, nephews, and other family members who will cherish her forever.
A funeral service, officiated by June’s daughter, Rev. Kristin Foster, will be held Sat., Jan. 20, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Evanston (1004 Greenwood St.). In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be designated to any of three charities that June was devoted to:
1.League of Women Voters, PO Box 96837, Washington, DC 20090; www.lwv.org
2.Chikaming Open Lands, 12291 Red Arrow Highway, Sawyer, MI 49125; www.chikamingopenlands.org
3.St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 1004 Greenwood St., Evanston, IL 60201; www.stpaulevanston.org
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