June (Penn) Saldaña

June Saldaña, 89, was called to Heaven on December 13, 2025, following a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was preceded in death by both parents Floyd and Fannie Penn and sister, Shirley Gregg, all of Pueblo. She is survived by her husband of 57 years, Hank; niece, Lisa Gregg and Michelle Banks of Austin, Texas; nephew, Douglass (Brenda) Gregg of West Haven, Utah; grandniece, Alissa (Jake) Anderson; great-grand niece, MaCall of Plain City, Utah; and grandnephew, Braden Gregg of Irvine, California.

June graduated from Centennial High School in 1954. She was popular and made friends easily and quite a few went on to college with her at Colorado Teachers College in Greeley, now the University of Northern Colorado. She graduated with a degree in elementary education doing her student teaching at Belmont Elementary School in its opening year. Following her student teaching, she accepted a position as a kindergarten teacher at Belmont working in a classroom with a co-teacher and nearly 50 children in the morning session and 50 in the afternoon session. She did that for a couple of years and then moved to first grade still at Belmont. When the final bell rang, June had worked at Belmont Elementary School for 40 years. At her retirement a student, parent and grandparent that June taught all from the same family presented her with a shadowbox of the 3 generations she taught. She loved teaching and her students loved her; many of them stopping by Room 4 to visit long after they left her classroom or showing up on her
porch just to say “hi.”

She was a lifelong member of Park Hill Baptist Church attending every Sunday until Covid. She was a member of the NEA and was the last graduating class to receive lifetime teaching certificates. After school most days, she would meet her parents at McDonald’s and have a coffee and catch up on their day. She called friends and visited when they were sick. She always filled in and volunteered when needed whether that was catching a bat at Dorothy’s house or moving LaVeta to Pueblo in a blizzard. She was always there for her friends. And her family.

A celebration of her life will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, January 10, 2026, at Parkhill Baptist Church, 4235 Parkhill Pl. Interment immediately following at Mountain View Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Belmont Elementary School, 39 Mac Naughton Road, Pueblo, 81001 in honor of June.