Betty June Mason Conner

Marion, Virginia

Betty June Mason Conner age 94, passed away Friday, October 31, 2025 at Francis Marion Manor, Marion, Virginia.

June was born on September 1, 1931 to the late Charles Alexander and Mary Lena Blankenbeckler Mason, and was the youngest of four siblings. In 1951, she married the late Harold Keith Conner, her high school sweetheart and love of her life. They made their farm life home in Smyth County.

After graduating from Marion Senior High School in 1948, June attended Marion College. After having her four children, she completed her BS degree in Teacher Education at Radford University in Radford, Virginia, with her three youngest children in tow. In 1966, June began her teaching career, and taught high school English for over 20 years, primarily at Chilhowie High School. She obtained her master’s degree in Education from Virginia Tech along the way. She took great pride in being a Beta Club Sponsor, and desired to inspire students’ passion for literature. June was involved in church her entire life, and was a lifelong member of Marion Baptist Church in Marion, Virginia. She cherished working with the church leaders and her church friends in organizing and volunteering for church-sponsored events, singing alto in the choir for decades, and serving as a deacon and Sunday School teacher. After retirement from teaching, June often volunteered her time, including church mission trips, cooking for large groups, and assisting with spiritual support at the local jail facility. Born and raised within town limits, June quickly embraced the farm life and country living with her farmer husband. She was a self-taught cook who loved canning and freezing fruits and vegetables harvested from the family garden and orchards. Her homemade dinner rolls made for Sunday dinners and family reunions were legendary. Along with her love for cooking, other activities she enjoyed were sewing, raising Cocker Spaniels puppies, decorating cakes for special occasions, and collecting artwork pieces with a bluebird theme. June’s greatest joy of all was the time spent with her husband, family and friends.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by Harold, her devoted husband of 60 years; brother, Walter Mason and his wife, Mildred; sisters, Ella Wygal and her husband Bill, and Mildred Ballard and her husband Ernest.

June’s surviving family includes her daughters, Annette Conner Strickland and her husband Steve, and Carol Conner Halsey and her husband Bryan; sons, Robert Keith Conner and his wife Jeannie, and Richard Timothy Conner and his wife Mary; grandchildren, Sarah Elizabeth Salyer (Travis), Joseph Willis Conner, Claire Avey Richardson, Jeffrey Hunter Anderson (Julie), Jacob Phillip Conner, Andrew Edwin Strickland (Catherine), Lauren Alexandra Smith (Josh), Rebekah Carol Halsey, Leah Elizabeth Harrigan (Stephen), Benjamin Rogers Halsey (Stephanie), and Erin Grace Conner; twelve precious great-grandchildren; and numerous beloved nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank the staff of Francis Marion Manor for the years of dignified care and compassionate support provided to June and her family.

The family will receive friends November 4, 2025 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Marion Baptist Church, 1258 North Main Street, Marion VA. Funeral services will begin at 3 p.m. with Reverend Dr. Charles Stewart officiating. Burial will follow in Mount Carmel Cemetery, 4335 Lee Highway, Marion VA.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Marion Baptist Church, 1258 North Main Street, Marion VA 24354.

To share memories of June Mason Conner please visit www.seaverbrown.com Care for June has been entrusted to Fraziers’ Seaver-Brown Funeral Service & Crematory, 237 East Main Street, Marion VA 24354.