- Date Of Birth: June 10, 1934
- Date Of Death: June 24, 2016
- State: Michigan
June Ellen Hackbarth, 82, passed away Friday, June 24, 2016, at her Independence Village residence in Midland. June was born on June 10, 1934, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to loving parents Wilfred and Rosalie Splittstoesser.
She enjoyed a happy childhood, blessed with good luck and little tragedy while growing up in Greendale, Wisconsin – a quaint village suburb, south of Milwaukee. There she met her two best friends, Joan and Diana, acted as a role model for her two younger siblings, Jerome and Karen, and met her future husband Clarence Hackbarth. He stole her heart at the Greendale Theatre where she sold tickets and he was the manager. June graduated from high school as valedictorian of her class and received a scholarship to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Clarence proposed to her in Greendale on February 14, 1956. In that same year, June graduated from college on June 10 with a bachelor’s degree in Lower Elementary Education.
Clarence and June were married on August 17, 1957. June and her husband Clarence enjoyed 58 years of a beautiful and affectionate marriage. Together, they moved from Greendale to Florence, Alabama, where they had their first child. Despite the expectations of the time period, June refused to quit teaching while pregnant for as long as she could, demonstrating the strong willingness to stand up for what was right that characterized her in all that she did. Eventually, before her first child, Richard, was born in 1959, she decided to raise her children from home. After four more moves and two more children, sons Scott (1963) and Mark (1967), the family of five settled in Midland. Clarence taught at Delta College, while June spent her days raising her family, volunteering in the community and teaching painting classes from her home to many local artists, including a dedicated group of friends who called themselves “The Cleveland Group.”
June is survived by her three children: Richard Hackbarth (Carol) of Grand Rapids, Scott Hackbarth (Kimberly) of Seattle, and Mark Hackbarth (Patricia) of Midland, as well as her sister, Karen Holpfer (Don) of Milwaukee. She will also be missed dearly by her 8 grandchildren, her granddaughter-in-law, and all others whose lives she has touched. She is preceded in death by her brother Jerome Splittstoesser, her mother Rosalie (née Bird), and her father Wilfred Splittstoesser.
June is remembered by those who loved her as hardworking, creative, intelligent and extremely compassionate. She always put family first and through countless acts of love showed how precious they were to her. Her kind, loving nature and valuable life-lessons will never be forgotten by the many who looked up to her as an amazing role model.
