JUNE HADDAD (HAWIE)

     June Hawie Haddad, 90, of Paxton, passed away at Tatnuck Park Assisted Living surrounded with the loving care of her family and health aides Thursday, January 15, 2015.

June was born on June 4th, 1924 in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York to Alexander and Lydia Hawie. Unable to agree on a name for their seventh child, her mother wrote her preference; “June” on the birth certificate, but everyone called her “Evelyn”, as her father wished. During her high school graduation, both names “June” and “Evelyn” were called out. Her mother was subsequently congratulated for having beautiful twins. The rest of her adult life she went by June.

She attended public schools in Brooklyn where she studied business and excelled in bookkeeping, stenography and typing. She was gifted in spelling and math as evidenced by friends and family who often consulted her in spelling and mathematical emergencies.

Not only talented in the “three R’s” she likewise possessed a keen natural gift for the arts. This talent followed her throughout life as she studied textile design and pursued a career as a watercolor artist after raising her four children.

She began to master her skills in watercolor at the Worcester Art Museum, an institution she supported and attended through her adult life. She furthered her art education at Assumption College and Worcester State College, as well as numerous art workshops led by well-known artists from around New England, including Terri Priest of Worcester, William Griffith of Princeton, Bernard Geostner of Gloucester, and Carlton Plummer of Greenville, N.Y. She was a member of the New England Watercolor Society.

Her works have been accepted, shown, awarded and sold throughout New England in exhibits at venues that included The Princeton Art Association, The Cape Cod Art Association, The Rhode Island Watercolor Society, and The Fitchburg Art Museum. Her paintings have received numerous awards and adorn many private homes today.

She enjoyed “games of chance” and considered herself “lucky”. You might have caught her cruising in her grandson’s corvette to a casino, teaching her grandchildren the art of Middle Eastern cooking, or gardening with her daughter. She loved and enjoyed all life had to offer. An active member in the Outdoor Sports Club for 46 years, she served two terms as president. June volunteered many years for the Worcester City Hospital Aide Society, was a strong supporter of the Perkins School for the Blind, and was devoted to Abby House since its inception.

In 1945, 70 years ago this week, she married Dr. Albert Haddad. Their early years together were spent in various locations where Albert completed his medical training, including Fort Knox during World War II and Atlantic City New Jersey at the Children’s Seashore Hospital. They settled in Worcester and Paxton where they raised their four children. Her motherly devotion was her number one priority and she “felt blessed to have four beautiful children”.

She is pre-deceased by her husband of 68 years, Albert, an orthopedic surgeon in Worcester. She leaves 4 children: A. Douglas Haddad and his wife Patricia of Paxton and Webster Lake, Susan Haddad Doscher and her husband Kevin of Pittsfield, Candace Haddad, her daughter and constant companion, and Wayne Haddad of Worcester.

She leaves her grandchildren: Alexander Haddad, Adam Haddad and his wife, Angela, Andrea Sweetland and her husband Tim, Andrew Haddad, Emily Haddad, Mitchell Haddad and his wife Laura, Mathew Haddad, Abigail Haddad, Jessica Vajcovec and her husband Chase, Hannah and Randy Katz, and Pat Turano Jr. She leaves five great-grandchildren: Ashley Iwanski, Sophia and Sydney Haddad, Jack and Mary Sweetland. She is predeceased by her siblings: George, Edward, Victoria, Mitchel, and Olga. She leaves her “number 1 brother” William Hawie of Trumbull Connecticut and many special nieces, nephews.

The family thanks the staff at Tatnuck Park where June thrived in the social activities provided. The family is eternally thankful for the compassion of her aides: Alice, Damaris and Gladys.

Relatives and friends are invited to visit with June’s family from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20, at the Miles Funeral Home, 1158 Main Street, Holden. A funeral service celebrating her life will be held 10 a.m. on Wednesday, January 21, at the funeral home. Entombment will follow in Worcester County Memorial Park, 217 Richards Avenue, Paxton.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Abby’s House, 52 High Street, Worcester, MA 01609.