June Anita Savell

June Anita Bellcase Savell was born July 9, 1938, in Mobile, Alabama, to Herbert Scales Bellcase and Leila Stewart Bellcase.
She passed away Friday morning, July 19, 2024, at her home in Jackson, Alabama, after a brief illness. She was preceded in death just 10 months earlier by her husband of nearly 66 years, James Slay Savell Jr. She was also preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Herbert Gordon Bellcase.

She is survived by her three children,  Tamara June “Tammy”(CJ) Arnold, James Slay (Maureen) Savell III,  and Tiffany Savell (Jerry) Taylor, Grandchildren Brandon (Nicole) Arnold, Brent (Chrissy) Arnold, Isabella (Tyler Byrd) Savell, Reagan Gomien, Jacob (Carly) Head, Connor Downey, Jeremy Taylor, Justin Taylor, and Great-Grandchildren, Brady Arnold, Bria Arnold, Vivian Arnold, Karson Head, and Kayce Head. Sister, Barbara  (Joe) Porter and Brother, Carlton Bellcase. She is also survived by beloved cousins, friends, and other relatives.

June Savell was an intelligent lady. She was well-read, had an extensive vocabulary, and was an excellent writer. As a child, she sang with her sister Barbara and brother Gordon on the radio, while Brenda Willis (Hall) played the piano. She was very close to her Aunt Annette and cousins Jerry, Eileen and Rae growing up, playing ball and playing with the pet monkey, Pansy, who lived at “Big Mama’s (her grandmother) house.  She married her high school sweetheart, Jimmy (James Slay Savell, Jr.) on November 12, 1957. In the late 50’s-60’s, June worked at Barton Academy for the Mobile County School Board, before deciding to be a stay at home mother. She remained busy as her kids’ room mother, a church Sunday School teacher, and as a general help to many. Once her children were grown, she returned to work for Mobile County, this time in the early 90’s, at the Mobile County Health Department. June and her sister Barbara were very close, and the older they got, the more they looked alike, often being mistaken for one another. June taught Sunday School classes at church throughout her life. Serving the Lord and seeing her children follow Christ was always her number one priority. Our mother was a godly woman. Before her dementia progressed, we simply cannot imagine that a day passed when she didn’t read her Bible and pray. We also can’t imagine a day ever passed when she didn’t eat a dessert, and if given the opportunity, she’d always eat it before or in place of her meal. While June would be considered “reserved” when compared to her husband, she for some reason didn’t show fear when he drove like a race car driver with her in the passenger’s seat, and she happily rode in tiny planes he flew as a newly licensed pilot. She went “along for the ride” in most things, as long as it didn’t require getting too cold or in a boat.  She was a loving mother and doting grandmother, but the legacy she leaves behind is a life lived in service for God and a family trained to do the same.

A funny poem written for her birthday one year sums up our Mother:

JUNEBUG:
A Christian lady in every way
Steadfast in prayer every day.
Daily read to her children God’s Holy Word
She always made sure His teachings were heard.
Though godly, she occasionally was compelled,
Pish, Pish, and many pishes! She yelled!
Jimmy! There’s a spider! She’d scream with fright!
There’s little doubt that Mother is always right.
While Jess is her favorite, she loves all of us,
Especially our kids, who she’ll defend if we fuss.
Though she’s beautiful, she hates that she has aged,
If you post her picture on Facebook she’ll become enraged!
All these things make up our precious mother,
Of all in the world, we would choose no other.

Visitation will be held at Valhalla Funeral Home July 24, 2024 from 11:00 am until 12:00 pm service. Interment will follow in Valhalla Memorial Gardens.