Donna Douglas, one of June (Sone) Bell’s neighbours, says that June was known around her Barrie neighbourhood as being a very athletic person, constantly biking, skating and walking.
“She was a dear, dear neighbour and I was always happy to chat with her on her way to and from her incredible workouts at Sunnidale Park. We are exactly one month apart in age, but I couldn’t hold a candle to her activity level,” says Douglas.
Bell died on June 18 after she was struck by a vehicle while cycling on Highway 124 in Parry Sound.
“June’s (life) story is an amazing one,” says Douglas.
The Sone family had their beginnings in Vancouver, B.C. with June’s father, Miyoji Sone, born during the Great Depression.
“My parents very rarely spoke about the war,” says Masa Sone, June’s sister. “They didn’t want to taint us any further with bitterness.”
When the bombing of Pearl Harbor took place on Dec. 7, 1941, the family’s two houses and business were confiscated and the family were moved to the Slocan Internment Camp. After a while, they were moved to Quebec.
“When (my parents) heard that news, they knew that life would never be the same,” says Masa.
June’s family ended up in an old POW camp in Farnham, Que. Each family that was moved there got one barrack, and it was up to them to try to get water and electricity put in.
“We had one fuse. So we had three lights in the whole house,” says Masa.
Masa recalls that the families got together to dig wells and tried to raise the houses on blocks. There was no indoor plumbing and a wood stove.
“And that’s how we lived,” says Masa.
June was born in 1948 in the house in Farnham. Masa has many memories of her upbringing with June and her seven other siblings.
“Every Wednesday and Saturday, my mom would try to heat up bath water for a galvanized steel bath tub she would wheel in. All of us bathed in that bathtub,” says Masa.
Masa recalls that the water would start off really shallow and hot, with the youngest going in first and the older siblings climbing in to wash the younger siblings as quickly as possible so the bath would stay warm enough for everyone to have a turn.
“June and I were among the younger ones. So, that’s why, (even as adults) we always took the hottest baths you could imagine because that’s what we were used to... in and out quickly. We never dawdled,” recalls Masa.
While the Sone family came from humble beginnings, Masa and June would reminisce about the fond memories of their childhood.
“She was always self-contained but motivated, even as a kid. She was always thinking. We weren’t that far apart in age. (When we were kids), she would take me to school in the morning, and faithfully be waiting for me after school,” says Masa.
Farnham was a railroad town in the heyday of the railway. The train station was the best building in town, according to Masa.
“Everyday, on our way home from school, we would go into the train station and go into the washroom, which had heating, lighting, hot running water and real soap! We would wash our hands with the hot water and soap, and then we would make our way home,” laughs Masa. “I’m sure the station master saw these two ragamuffins come in every single day, but never a harsh word was spoken to us,” says Masa.
June skipped a grade in high school and was an Ontario Scholar when she graduated. She went on to the University of Toronto and Victoria College to study law. She graduated with honours.
Love is what brought June Bell to Barrie after she met William Bell, a prominent community member who was principal of Hillcrest Public School at the time.
“June met Bill on a French immersion trip,” says Masa. “Bill was an educator, and even then (in the late 1960s), he knew that French, one day, was going to be important for students in Ontario. So, he went on this trip to try to learn some French.”
“Right away, June saw he wasn’t going to get far beyond bonjour and merci, and she was fluent in French and German. So she took him in-hand while they navigated the French islands,” says Masa.
They didn’t marry until 1979 after a long friendship, and June moved up to Barrie permanently. At the same time, her sister Masa and her family moved to Barrie to be closer.
“We pretty well did everything together. We cottaged together... we even shared my grandkids,” laughs Masa. “There wasn’t a day that I wouldn’t speak to her, or text her or see her in person. We were always in touch.”
“That, for me, is the very, very hardest part. It’s the fact that I’ll never be able to do that again,” says Masa, her voice breaking. “It’s hard to accept. At my age, I guess, I’ll never get over that.”
June was a sole general practitioner of law for many years in downtown Barrie. For several years she was a senior lawyer with the Consent and Capacity Board and a member of the Simcoe County Law Association. She also served as a director of Legal Aid. She was one of the first women of Japanese-Canadian heritage to be called to the bar of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
Marg Creal, chair at the Consent and Capacity Board, remembers June as someone who was loved by her coworkers.
“People here are very upset by her passing. She was a hard-working and skilled adjudicator,” says Creal.
Tim Vaillancourt, a public member of the Consent and Capacity Board, worked with June for six years and considered her to be his mentor.
“It is such a tragic loss. She was a very well-respected lady,” says Vaillancourt. “I’m still in shock, to be honest. I’m going to miss her greatly.”
When Masa’s daughter died tragically in the early 1980s, June took on helping to raise her nephew, Michael Sone, so Masa could have time to deal with the death of her child.
“She was my surrogate parent for many years,” says Michael. “You could argue my childhood was... in jeopardy. But she took me places. We did trips together. She bought the cottage. I’d accompany her on work trips,” says Michael.
Michael has memories of June and William taking him to Canada’s Wonderland on the day it opened.
“I could have become a lawyer. I definitely knew more than any kid about the land registry office,” he laughs. “Sometimes she would ask me to do a few things while we were there, like help her with a land title search for whatever client she was working for at the time.”
Michael is now an urban planner for the Ontario government.
“My best subject always was municipal law. If you need to do something fussy with legislature, I’m probably one of the better people to go through it,” he laughs.
“Maybe, in some small way, that comes from her.”
When Michael was 16 years old, he took up mountain biking and June decided to take it up as well as something they could do together.
“We worked together to try to figure out what our limits were... try to increase the distance, plan the route, appropriate food to take along...By the time I left for my undergrad in university, we were doing up to 100 kilometres a day,” says Michael.
After he left for university, Michael admits his biking dropped off, but June continued to keep it up and eventually got to a point where she was travelling the world on cycling tours, and was always looking to improve her skills.
“She loved those trips, and made a lot of friends on those trips,” says Michael. “She took it to a completely different level. It was a highlight (for her).”
Michael wants to remember his aunt as being someone inspiring who pulled themselves up from a modest start.
“She used what she had, in terms of her skills, intelligence and her drive. You could say that there were a lot of odds stacked against her, coming back from post-war days, and not a lot of money behind her,” says Michael. “It’s the old Canadian spirit of, if you work hard and have the skills, you can make it in the world, without predisposed privilege or money.”
