June Aurelia King Buckler of Cary, North Carolina, formerly of Coudersport, PA, died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 89 on Saturday, January 4, 2025 after a three-year battle with congestive heart failure.

June was born on June 21, 1935, in Sante Fe, New Mexico to George and Marjorie King. She was the oldest of three children. Right after June graduated high school, the King family moved to Miami, Florida. June attended nursing school in Florida and earned a nursing diploma. Her diploma required a practicum, which June completed in a mental health hospital while living with her aunt in Baltimore, Maryland. While living in Baltimore, June met her husband, the late John H. Buckler at church one Sunday morning. John was just home from serving in Korea in the U.S. Marines. His parents and June’s aunt attended the same church, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, in Baltimore. Upon completion of her practicum, June moved back to Miami to complete her nursing degree. She and John maintained a long distance relationship by daily writing letters to one another and became engaged during that time.

On May 12, 1957, June married John Henry Buckler, Jr. at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Baltimore, and they lived in Baltimore for the first nine years of their marriage. John completed an apprenticeship for stone masonry and was a bricklayer and stone mason for various construction companies in the Baltimore area. While in Baltimore, they had three children: John Daniel Buckler (Tammy), June Diane Buckler Breznik, and James David Buckler (Annette). 

In June of 1966, John and June moved their young family from Baltimore, Maryland to Coudersport, PA where they lived for the remainder of John’s life and until June moved to North Carolina in 2021. While living in Coudersport, John and June founded Buckler Construction. They also had a fourth child, Julie Deanna Buckler Leslie (Gary). 

While living in Coudersport, June worked alongside her husband John in their construction business, Buckler Construction. She taught herself accounting in order to do the weekly payroll, report taxes, and manage accounts receivable and accounts payable. She also assisted her husband on the paperwork side of preparing bids and fostering positive relationships in the community. Later, June worked in the front office of Buckler Transport, a trucking company founded by her son, J. David Buckler.

As a breast cancer survivor, June volunteered with The American Cancer Society for nearly four decades. She made hundreds of “Reach to Recovery” visits to women who had just had one or both breasts removed in their efforts to survive breast cancer. June also helped in various fundraising endeavors, including helping to organize and recruit teams for Potter County’s Relay for Life event for nearly ten years. For her many years of dedicated service to Reach to Recovery, in May of 1991 June was recognized at a special luncheon hosted by then Pennsylvania First Lady Ellen Casey in Harrisburg, PA. 

John and June were members of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Coudersport for many years. While members, they both volunteered in various capacities. June served on the Altar Guild and was a member of the Lutheran Church Women’s group. June was also a member of the Christian Missionary Alliance Church as well as the Free Methodist Church, both in Coudersport. For nearly 20 years, June taught a weekly Bible study out of her home in an effort to help friends and neighbors learn more about the Bible and how every single book, from Genesis to Relevation, points to Jesus and how He came to save the world. 

Several years after her husband died in 1996, June was particularly motivated to start and lead a grief support group. This group met weekly at various places around town but most commonly at Charles Cole Memorial Hospital. In December of 2021, June survived a heart attack. It was after this heart attack that June moved from her home outside of Coudersport to Cary, North Carolina where she began living full time with her daughter Diane. June greatly missed the many friends she dearly loved and living in her own home, and she was especially sorry to leave the grief support group. 

Friends and family will remember June for her love of her husband, pretty flowers, chocolate, chips and dip, colorful clothes, many random acts of kindness, and service to others.

June was preceded in death by her brother, Richard King, her husband of 39 years, John H. Buckler, and her granddaughter, Carolyn Diane Breznik. June is survived by her four children: J. Daniel Buckler (Tammy) of Winston-Salem, NC, Diane Buckler Breznik of Cary, NC, J. David Buckler (Annette) of Greensboro, NC, and Julie Buckler Leslie (Gary) of Waxahachie, TX, six grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. June is also survived by her brother, George H. King, of New Bern, NC. 

A Celebration of Life service for June will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 21, 2025 at God’s Country Ministries (formerly Coudersport Free Methodist Church), located at 1237 E. 2nd Street in Coudersport. There will also be a visitation on Friday evening, June 20th, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. at God’s Country Ministries. 

Following the Celebration of Life service on Saturday, the family will host family and friends at the Buckler homestead in Odin, PA. All are invited.

June will be buried next to her husband John in Homer Cemetery located outside of Coudersport. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Family Life Ministry in Bath, NY. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Fickenger Funeral Home of Coudersport, PA.