June Fancher

Betty June Solomon, the daughter of Elizabeth and Harold Solomon was born in Liverpool, England on June 8th, 1926. She passed away November 2nd, 2025, in her home in Plano, Texas.

Sometime during the second world war, the family, fearing what might happen if the Nazis won, dropped their Jewish surname and started using Harold’s middle name instead. Thus, she became June Godfrey. She made a promise to her mother that she would never reveal her Jewish roots; she kept that promise, not even telling her own daughters. Just a few years ago, they were surprised to learn this part of their heritage after doing an ancestry.com search.

June was an avid reader and often bragged that she started reading Charles Dickens by the age of 12 and finished reading all of his books while still an early teen. Her favorite gift as a child was a book. She was also a lover of music and attended Music from Angel Fire, the Taos School of Music and the Taos Chamber Music concerts religiously every year. But her greatest passion was her English Garden. She started gardening as a child when her father assigned her with her own flower bed to maintain, a task she took very seriously. Upon moving to Taos 30 + years ago, she managed to turn her yard into an oasis the likes of which are not often seen in northern NM.

As June approached the end of her life, she often told her daughters that she was actually looking forward to the next phase of her journey, especially as she would be reunited with Michael, the son that she lost in 1957 when he was just 4 years old. Not a day went by since then that she did not grieve his absence and look forward to their reunion.

June’s passing was on All Saints Sunday, November 2nd, six months and six days shy of her 100th birthday.

She is survived by her devoted husband of 40 years, Kay Fancher; her two daughter Cindy Atkins; Sharon Hughes and husband Karl; and her two grandsons Aron Hughes and Nick (Kendall) Hughes.

A small family Celebration of Life service will be held at 10:30 AM on December 6th in the Highland Springs Willow Ridge Public Room in Plano Texas with the Rev. Mark Lang officiating.