June Kepley

    June Abbie Kepley, 92, Clear Lake, died Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at the Oakwood Care Center, Clear Lake.  A funeral service was held Monday, March 26, at Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, Clear Lake, with the Rev. Dennis Ganz officiating. Interment was at Memorial Park Cemetery, Mason City.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the June Kepley Memorial Fund, Hospice or JDRF.

     June was born on the family farm, rural Belmond, Iowa on June 14, 1919, (Flag Day) the daughter of Harm and Lillian (Meinders) Braner.  She graduated from Belmond High School in 1937 and from the School of Cosmetology in Ft. Dodge, Iowa in 1938.  She moved to Mason City in 1940.  During WWII she worked for an ammunition plant in Alexandria, Va.  On Feb. 28, 1946, June married Donald W. Kepley on her parent’s farm.  She worked for Lillian Reed Beauty Shop until her children were born. Later she was a homemaker and worked part-time for Gold Bond Stamps and later at Damon’s in the ladies department.  
      June enjoyed cooking, baking, quilting, crocheting, and visiting with her friends and family.  She was an avid Hawkeye fan. She enjoyed playing 500 and Quarters with her great-grandchildren.  June also enjoyed traveling to Canada for fishing with friends, renting cabins for the entire family in Northern Minnesota, tracing her roots in Germany, exploring Alaska and cheering the Hawkeyes at the Rose Bowl in 1986.  June was a member of the First Christian Church, Mason City, where she was the first female elder of the church.  She also taught Sunday school and organized the annual bazaar for many years.  
     June is survived by three children, Vickie Hornbuckle and her husband, Richard, Mason City, Iowa, Ross D. Kepley and his wife, Heidi, Chaska, Minn. and Glenna S. Hansmeier and her husband, Bruce, Clear Lake; seven grandchildren, Kimberly (Mike) Bailey, Edina, Minn., Chad (Riann) Hornbuckle, Bloomington, Minn., Jason (Jennifer Brusletten) Hornbuckle, Maple Grove, Minn., Chris (Teresa) Hornbuckle, Woodbury, Minn., Courtney (Shane) Maskarina, Clear Lake, Brent Hansmeier, Urbandale, Iowa and Shane (fiancé Michala Hrubes) Hansmeier, Mason City; 11 great-grandchildren, Maddison, Alex, Jonathan, Taylor, Allysa, Cassie, Shelbey, Hayden, Emily, Nick and Parker; and a sister-in-law, Eileen Braner, Belmond.  
     June was preceded in death by her parents; husband (1998), son-in-law, Mike McGowan (1978); two brothers, Walter and Donald Braner; and sister-in-law, Gloria Braner.