June Frances Oliver

June Frances Karrenbrock Oliver was called home at the age of 89 to be with her loving Savior.

June will lie in state Thursday, April 3, 2025, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home, 6101 Bosque Blvd., in Waco. A service celebrating June’s life and her strong faith will be held at 10:00 a.m., Friday, April 4, 2025, in the Garden Room at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home, 6101 Bosque Blvd. in Waco. Burial will follow at Waco Memorial Cemetery.

June was born on November 13, 1935, in Wichita Falls, Texas to June Gladys Sims Karrenbrock and Frank Benjamin Karrenbrock. June’s vocation of nursing and her love and fascination with the medical field was fueled early on by the close proximity of the family home to the local hospital where, as a young child, she could often be found observing the comings and goings at the emergency room entrance. She met her husband of 49 years, Charles, while they were both attending Midwestern University in Wichita Falls. She was taking preliminary courses for a nursing degree, and Charles was working on his teaching degree. After brief stints in North Texas and East Texas, they settled in Waco, Texas where they raised their four daughters.

As a nurse, June worked in various departments including Labor and Delivery, ICU, Surgery, and Cardiovascular private practice. She touched the lives of countless coworkers and patients with her compassion, kindness, warmth, and unrivaled tender loving care. Her passion for helping others and her devotion to her profession made her a beacon of hope for many which led to her being awarded the Providence Medical Center Employee of the Year and receiving recognition by the local news media due to her off-duty heroic efforts in which she saved the life of a motor vehicular accident victim.

June was a long-time member of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Waco, where she and Charles were active in their church community and in their faith, manifested by their service in visiting the homebound and teaching Sunday School at long-term-care and retirement facilities. Additional hobbies and vocations were owning a cake decorating and catering business and helping Charles tend to their many beehives including processing the honey that was sold in local markets.

June was preceded in death by her devoted husband, Charles; and their precious daughter, Linda; as well as her brother, George Houser.

She is survived by her children, Terry Kay Henderson and husband (John), Karen Cooper and husband (Chip), Nancy Parker and husband (Jeff); Grandchildren John Holcomb, Laurie Taylor, Jason Taylor, Jay Carl Taylor, Matthew Cooper, Justin Parker, Shelby Strawn, and Max Parker; great-grandchildren Zoey Taylor, Tensley Taylor, Jaycob Taylor, and Oliver Strawn.

June’s legacy of strength, resilience, and frequent words of encouragement will be deeply missed by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She was truly the matriarch of the family and will be forever remembered and deeply appreciated by her girls for her unwavering guidance and support.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the McLennan Community College Foundation (Nursing Scholarships), 1400 College Drive, Waco, TX 76708, or online at http://bit.ly/MCCFND21.

June’s family invites you to share a memory or a message in her "Memorial Guestbook" online at www.WHBfamily.com.