June Kikuchi
Professor, mentor, aunt, sister, friend. Born on June 10, 1939 in Duncan, B.C.; died on Sept. 6, 2014, in Kelowna, B.C., of acute myeloid leukemia, aged 75.
June Kikuchi was an internationally renowned academic, a co-author of several influential books on nursing, and for many years a distinguished professor at the University of Alberta, where she co-founded the Institute for Philosophical Nursing Research and served as its first director.
But while she was Dr. Kikuchi to the world, to her family she was Aunt June – always humble, modest and kind. She was our rock, the person you could count on for wise counsel and unwavering emotional support.
June had the gift of presence. A good listener, she was inquisitive and engaging, and didn't hesitate to question every assumption and premise. Whether with a family member, student or colleague, her conversations were always thought-provoking and challenging.
Her academic interests and abilities, as well as her self-discipline and work ethic, were evident early on. As a young girl she treasured her library card and immersed herself in her studies. In 1979, after many years of hard work as a nurse at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children and as a student, June obtained her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh in pediatric nursing.
Her adult successes belied a difficult start in life during the Second World War. When she was 3, she and her family were sent to an internment camp for people of Japanese ancestry in Tashme, B.C., where they lived with another family in an uninsulated tar-paper shack for nearly four years. The government seized, and sold, her family's dry-cleaning business and all their personal property.
When the Second World War ended, Japanese-Canadians were not allowed to return to the West Coast so June's family moved to Winnipeg where her father worked as a labourer. A few years later, they moved to Toronto; her father worked nights as a cleaner while her mother worked days as a seamstress. They managed to buy a home, living in the basement on dirt floors while renting out the floors above.
Perhaps not surprisingly, June was always frugal – her brother often said she had yet to spend the first dollar she ever earned – and she took great pride in her car, which lasted 25 years. She didn't buy her first house until she was 72.
After the frigid winters she spent teaching in Edmonton, she dreamed of retirement years in milder British Columbia. In 2011, she bought a home in beautiful Lake Country, with a view of the mountains around Lake Okanagan. She discovered a talent for painting, and – ever the student – took philosophy courses at the local University of British Columbia campus.
Even in retirement June continued to research, write and receive recognition for her many contributions to health care. In 2004, she received an honorary doctorate from Laval University and, in 2012, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Toronto's faculty of nursing.
June lived a full life, with many proud accomplishments, and no regrets. While some found it difficult to believe that she did not have one thing she wanted to do over, she didn't. For June, regrets were a waste of time.
Elizabeth Kikuchi is June's niece; John Paul Zubec is Elizabeth's husband.