The Activist Who Will Live Forever

This blip has been inspired by one of Kendall's, who wrote of  the story of Joe Walsh, a local Portland activist.

I had lived in Green Valley, Arizona for six months after having moved from I Maryland where I lived and taught for over twenty years.  I was getting depressed, missing the oak forest which engulfed my condo and not yet having developed an appreciation for the desert.

My mom gave me a copy of the Chamber of Commerce booklet of all of the local organizations and activities.  There were two Democratic clubs which caught my eye but the one I chose to reach out to was the Democratic Women in Action.  The contact person was June Wortman. 

I phoned her and told her my story.  She invited me to join a group of liberal thinkers who met at a local restaurant weekly to hold political discussions (Lively Liberal Lunchers).  Two weeks in, she asked me to attend a meeting of the Democratic Women in Action.  I had no idea what she had up her sleeve at the time.  I will get back to that thought in a moment...

June was born of American parents in the Philippines.  She and her family were captured by the Japanese and held in an internment camp there for over three years.  They were not released until 1945 when WWII ended.  This experience as a young person was to shape the person she was to become.

She was the most widely-known activist in Green Valley.  every other week (somewhere else today I wrote every week) she stood on the main intersection in town, rain or shine, alone or with others to quietly protest against the wars and torture and promoted peace and co-existence.  The golf cart in which she drove around town was plastered with stickers supporting peace and understanding. She drove the cart to her demonstrations and provided signs with those messages of understanding for anyone who wished to join her. 

...I attended the DeWA meetings I was invited to attend.  they turned out to be Board of Directors meetings.  June encouraged me to participate in the discussions.  Behind my back she was scheming!  She had been the president of the organization for a couple of years and was ready to pass the torch.  I was asked to run for the presidency of the club.  During the three months she had known me she was grooming me to be her replacement and to lead the Democratic Women in Action into the future.  I was sworn in as president of DeWA in January 2008. 

But leaving DeWA did not slow her down.  She produced a weekly, sometimes twice a week, email which contained activities from political groups, border groups, church groups, etc which were taking place all over Southern Arizona.  We depended on "June's Rag" for news of what was happening (as well as some of her commentary) more than the local newspaper.  She had 1500 subscribers.

When she passed away from a recurrence of breast cancer near the end of 2009 thousands attended her Memorial Service.  One member of our club contacted the non-profit organization which takes care of the beautiful medians we have in the roads of our town.  She was told that we could have a memorial marker in her name, on her corner, if $500 was raised.  The word went out.  Over $2000 poured in from from Democrats and others who had such enormous respect for her.

She accomplished much in her life.  If you would honor me, and my mentor June, by reading her extended obituary I would be enormously grateful.  If you've read this much, another minute of your time will be well spent.

I carried on as president of DeWA from that day in 2008 until March 2014.  At that time my life's priorities changed and I decided I needed to spend more time with my mother, who was becoming increasingly ill. Unfortunately, I was not as astute as June and failed to find someone to step into my shoes.  The organization dissolved officially with the Arizona Secretary of State on March 10, 2014.

The last vestiges of the club on Google:
Planned Parenthood and DNC organizer
Fighting hate in Arizona
Speaker on climate change
Speaker, Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, who is poised to defeat Senator John McCain in November.
So long, yet so little remains....