June Mary Stein Smith

June was a person of enormous curiosity and creativity. Throughout her life, she created many works of art — from paintings to wall hangings to ceramics. She made furniture and her home in Alpine is furnished with many of her works. As an older person, she learned how to use computers and create web sites. She was always learning and expressing her newfound interests to her family.

She was born in San Antonio in 1940 to Grace Theresa Cobb and Robert Martin Stein. Her formative years were mostly spent in Kerrville where she attended Tivy High School, worked at the main street drug store, and enjoyed the small town life of the 1950s. After high school, she moved with her parents to Austin where she won a local beauty contest, attended the University of Texas, and met Jimmy Ray Smith while the two of them lived at the same apartment complex – The Chateau Duval Apartments near the University. June and Jimmy were married in 1964. The couple moved to El Paso shortly thereafter where their three children were born. They moved to Alpine in 1976. June received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Sul Ross State University in 1989.

June and Jimmy were married for 60 years and supported each other throughout their lives. June was the most beautiful woman in the world to Jimmy. June and Jimmy took their lives’ greatest joy in their three children. In recent months, June grew a newfound fondness for the monarch butterfly and learned everything she could about them. She urged her children to look out for the butterfly after her death as it would be a sign of her continued presence in their lives. 

June is preceded in death by her parents Robert Martin Stein and Grace Theresa Cobb and is survived by her husband Jimmy Ray Smith, her sister Shirley Barker, her children Steven Ray Smith (and wife Neva) Gary Collin Smith (and wife Annie), Kristy Lynn Smith, and her seven grandchildren (in order of birth), Sebastian, Matthew, Ivy, Christopher, Kelsey, Scott, and Clay.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 22, 2025 at Alpine Memorial Funeral Home Chapel in Alpine, Texas with visitation beginning at 2:00 PM and a memorial service to follow at 3:00 PM.

Donations may be made to Save Our Monarchs - www.saveourmonarchs.org