June (Gail) Riffle Death, Obituary – June (Gail) Riffle On May 20, 2023, at the age of 90, Grace passed away at her home in Concord, Massachusetts, surrounded by her family. June Carlton Riffle was the eldest of her parents, Paul Carlton and Margaret (Mansfield) Riffle, who welcomed her into the world on June 29, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her sister Polly Riffle Walter, her husband of 68 years, Lloyd F. (Buck) Grace, and her brother-in-law, John David Grace, all passed away before she did. Her spouse.
Beloved wife of Buck, she and her husband tied the knot on 25 August 1954, and the couple went on to raise three children: Lynn (Frances) Grace Kaufman, Joanne Margaret Grace, and Francis Paul Grace. In addition to her three children, June is survived by her brothers-in-law, Donald Walter and Harold Lee Yoho, sons-in-law Nathan Stephen Kaufman and Timothy Mark Burgess, daughter-in-law Julie Michelle (Dahlberg) Grace, and eight grandchildren.
Her grandchildren are as follows: Amanda Gail (Kaufman) Melsek and husband Matthew John Melsek, Matthew Evan Kaufman and wife Katey Lorene (Durham) Kaufman, Margaret Man After receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, June worked as a public health nurse for the city of Pittsburgh. After meeting each other on a blind date while they were still in school, the couple married and eventually settled in various different neighbourhoods in the suburbs of Pittsburgh with their children before moving to Concord, Massachusetts in 1971.
June’s interests in writing, music, spirituality, gardening, and reading inspired pursuits ranging from singing in church choirs, playing flute in community bands in both Pittsburgh and Concord, publishing articles in magazines such as RN Journals, teaching Sunday school, and hosting prayer meetings that met weekly for decades. June was vivacious and engaging. Her interests in writing, music, spirituality, gardening, and reading inspired these pursuits.
After moving to Concord, June worked for the Sudbury Public Health Nursing Association for a total of ten years, beginning her tenure there as a school nurse and eventually ascending to the position of Executive Director. After obtaining a Master of Science degree in nursing from the Boston University School of Nursing, she first worked for the Visiting Nurse Association of the South Shore for five years.
In keeping with the focus that she has placed throughout her professional life on providing service to the community, June has volunteered countless hours of her time to the Concord Band and the Concord Rotary over the course of several decades. Her work for both groups has been a labour of love. June was recently honoured with the ‘Service above Self’ award, which is the highest award given out by Rotary International.
She was recognised for her dedication to promote two Rotary global grants in Haiti and Kenya, as well as for having shared her skills as an active volunteer, club webmaster, public relations and social media chair, and volunteer extraordinaire for club fundraisers. In addition, she was recognised for having been honoured.
Her final decades were highlighted by visits to and vacations with family members living from coast to coast, journeys on trains both domestically and internationally, and attendance at multiple international Rotary conventions.