June Muriel Sangala

On Thursday, February 4, 2021, June Muriel Sangala, loving daughter, sister, and cousin, passed away in her sleep, at the age of 86.

June was born on July 4, 1934, in Ishpeming, MI, to her mother, Dagmar and her father, Eino, and her little brother, Donald, was born 8 years later. Growing up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in a small town roughly 20 miles from Lake Superior, June graduated from Ishpeming High School, in 1952.

After high school, June pursued her passion for public service and healthcare. She completed a 3-year nursing program and earned a BSN at Henry Ford Hospital School of Nursing in Detroit, MI. After earning her degree and license, June worked as a registered nurse at Wayne County General Hospital. When seeking the opportunity to purchase and settle into a home, June left Michigan for Decatur, GA, where her commitment to public service continued.

June served as a Colonel in the Air Force and completed two master’s degrees at John Hopkins University in Nurse Midwifery and Public Health. This passion and experience led her to work for the World Health Organization in Cambodia and Laos, and at both Emory and Grady Hospitals in Atlanta, GA. During her time as a nurse midwife, June proudly delivered over 3000 babies! Such a powerful and intelligent woman, June always worked for the greater good and left the world a better place.

While June had an amazing career in nursing, she also held deep passions for creative and healing arts, as well as, traveling. In the 1970s, June travelled the world to study transcendental meditation with a small group in which she was the only woman. As a globetrotter, June visited every continent on planet earth, even bravely travelling to Antarctica. Machu Picchu was one of her favorite spots in the world, and she hiked it numerous times. June loved to explore and learn.

June was also an incredible artist who made art for most of her adult life. She loved painting, sculpting, calligraphy, and photography, and won awards whenever she showed her work publicly.

Later in life, June became a reiki master and studied A Course in Miracles. She was a deeply spiritual being who found solace and fellowship in the Unitarian Church Community. June also loved to give back, and she was a long-time volunteer for the Atlanta Symphony and the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.

In the last 5 years of her life, June resided on the Monterey Peninsula in California, at Canterbury Woods and the Park Lane Luxury Senior Living Community. During this time, June loved driving by the ocean, painting, drawing and playing music. She worked with a local professional artist to create the most exquisite art of her life, using regular and colored pencils. Many of June’s pieces will be displayed at her celebration of life.

June was preceded in death by her father, Eino Erick Sangala, her mother, Dagmar Justina Hintsala Sangala Eskela and her brother, Donald Frederick Sangala.

She is survived by her sister-in-law, Faye Sangala, her nephew, Todd Kari and his sons, Joe and Jason Kari, and her cousin Ruth Virginia Hintsala Coleman and her children, Joni Yvonne Lee Coleman Birch, Gordon Kenneth Andrew Coleman II, and Kaye Alexandra Virginia Coleman.

A funeral service will be held at Ishpeming Cemetery, Ishpeming, MI, on July 22, 2021, at 1:00 pm. Donations may be sent to Atlanta Botanical Garden www.atlant abg.org or the Atlanta Symphony www.aso.org in honor of June’s life of service to her community.

June’s obituary may also be viewed at bjorkandzhulkie.com where relatives and friends may leave a note of remembrance.