Obit

June Keithley

(10 March 1947 – 24 November 2013)

People were curious about the holding of June Keithley’s wake at the St. Ignatius Church in Camp Aguinaldo. A soldier in dress uniform stands guard at the foot of her coffin. A ceremonial changing of the guards takes place through the day and night, an honor given to those who serve in the military.

Among many other things that she was in her life, June was awarded the Legion of Honor, the highest honor given to a civilian by the government, in recognition of her role in the EDSA People Power Revolution. The events of February 1986 toppled the long standing rule of Ferdinand Marcos who declared Martial Law in 1971, restoring the republican framework of government. On the 27^th People Power anniversary, President Benigno Aquino III conferred on her the Spirit of EDSA award.

On the first night of the wake for June Keithley, a younger relative asked one of June’s older friends, “What did she do?” puzzled perhaps by so much media attention given to her passing.

The brief description given to this question summarized “what she did,” indeed, what she achieved when she took on the historic assignment to man Radyo Bandido. Hastily set up by staff and crew of Radio Veritas which was bombed by the military, the station operated in the studio of dzRJ AM, under the supervision of the late Father James Reuter, June’s long time friend and mentor. June was on the air for 14 hours straight.

It was her voice which transmitted the call for the people to mass at EDSA to protect a breakaway faction of the military, headed by General Fidel V. Ramos, along with then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile.  They would have been captured by Marcos loyalist forces, had not people gathered around the place on EDSA; and, within a matter of days, were joined by crowds who prevented the approaching troops and succeeded in halting the tanks deployed to crush the uprising.

At the time of this assignment, Keithley had already made a name for herself in theater, television and film. Reports quote her saying she was always uncomfortable about political labels and affiliations, identifying herself as an artist who was sensitive about anything that would affect her independence.

June was born of a Filipina mother and an American father. In her columns written about her life, she recalled how she grew up in Pasay after the war, playing in the streets with children in the neighborhood, developing a taste for many things Filipino. She never went to the US to live and the Philippines was her home.

At a young age, she hosted children’s shows on television including “Lollipop Party” and “The Children’s Hour.” Later she was the mainstay co-star of John Litton, in the late night “June and Johnny,” a weekly talk show about social events, tending toward talk about entertainment and culture, but giving time as well to matters of political concern.

She could sing and was often cast in musicals and other theater productions under the direction of Father Reuter. She also performed for shows mounted by Repertory Philippines. Her role in film director Lino Brocka’s award-winning “Lunes, Martes. . .” gained the surprised nod of film critics who noted her stand out performance among the more established stars of Philippine cinema.

Soon after EDSA, June and her husband, TV broadcaster, Angelo Castro, Jr., set up a production studio where the couple collaborated on the production of film documentaries. She was responding to another call, earnestly searching for answers in a “re-awakening of her faith.” She wrote extensively on her experience of the miracles in Medjugorje. She produced a documentary and wrote a book on the Marian apparition in the Carmelite Monastery in Lipa in 1948. Both works were informed by intensive research and investigative inquiry. She was frequently invited to speak in international meetings on faith and prayer and the Marian devotion.

But she would claim perhaps an even more profound calling of her faith, which kept her committed to the propagation of the Marian devotion, sustaining her life of prayer and faith in action.

To her death, June had taken on other efforts and advocacies more related to her faith than to her politics. In the same manner, she had already made a name for herself in theater, television and film before the historic assignment on Radyo Bandido.

This spirituality sustained her as she battled against breast cancer. She was diagnosed in 2009, not too long after her husband began treatment for lung cancer.

When she met with friends during this period, the few times she would be well enough to have an appetite and energy, she would manage to be the same irrepressible June, ready with a joke, a quip, a dig at whatever deserved her irreverent jibe. Through the years of friendship with women and media, colleagues who began getting together from the late seventies, she was thoughtful and generous, a gracious hostess who enjoyed opening her home to her friends, welcoming them with everything good she could offer — food, drink, talk and company.

She loved life and embraced fully the blessings that came her way, accepting too the trials with courage and wisdom. I remember how she said, she learned to “tighten the belt” as necessary, quoting her father as saying, “you made your bed, you sleep on it.”

This no-nonsense practical approach to life was ingrained it seemed by her upbringing. To the end, she exuded a joyful gratitude about everything in her life.

Now that we know that she has left our company permanently, I recall with thanks the gift that she offered to us, showing us all how to overcome the sadness that comes with life, how to live with gratitude, with peace and acceptance.

June is survived by her son, Diego, his wife Angel, daughters Gabriela and Ika and four grandchildren.