Tribute to June Gross
by Clair Martin
Dear Friends,
Along with all the excitement and hubbub surrounding the Great Rosarians event last weekend one sad event slipped passed with hardly a notice. Sadly, June Grose a long time friend of many of us passed away quietly in hospital. June had fallen and broken her hip getting out of bed the previous week and suffered a heart attack and died late on Monday, January 24.
Like many rose growers in the greater Los Angeles area I got to know June through rose shows and the Huntington Symposium on Old Garden Roses. June regularly set up educational displays of roses cut from her garden at rose shows across the Los Angeles basin. She would install her table of Old Garden Roses in the main hall and then invite attendees to smell and share in her love of these historical roses. June would answer the public's questions of how to grow this, for them new discoveries, and advise them where they could purchase OGRs for their own gardens. For many of us June was directly responsible for instilling in us an appreciation and abiding love of these roses. I remember a number of afternoons spent touring June's garden and dinners discussing her favorite subject...roses. An imposing and tall woman, June maintained her garden, collected rose books and catalogs and always had a warm smile and embrace for everyone who shared her love of our national flower.
June was an active member of a number of area rose societies, including Pacific, San Fernando, and Los Angeles Rose Societies. She was one of the founding members of Southern California Heritage Roses when a few of us formed that informal group after the Fourth Huntington Old Garden Rose Symposium in 1980. June continued to volunteer and support the Huntington Rose Garden and its activities over the years and received the Lester Herrall Award from the Huntington Symposium in 198? June was presented the Harrell Award in recognition for her years of service to the rose and almost single minded dedication to Old Garden Roses. The award also recognized her dedication to educating the gardening public to the charms, beauties, and histories of historic roses.
June not only supported the Huntington Rose Garden by volunteering but she also was one of the individuals who helped establish the Old Rose Educational Endowment that was founded in 2000 to provide financial support for The Great Rosarians of the World Annual Lecture Series. Her gift was combined with others and now provides seed money for the lecture series.
Sadly for us in the last few years June had retreated from a public life due to age and illness. She was placed under the protection of a court appointed conservator and spent her last days surrounded by her first love, her rose garden.
I am not aware of any burial or memorial plans currently. A number of us have discussed the possibility of holding a Memorial Gathering to honor June's life in the Huntington Rose Garden later this spring. Nothing could be more fitting than remembering and honoring June's impact and life among the flowers she so loved. If you would like to attend drop me a note and I would be happy to notify you of the date and time when the plans are formalized.
June's warm smile and embrace will be missed. But her dedication to roses and her single-minded efforts to educate us to the charms of Old Garden Roses will be an inspiration to us all.
