June Daphne, Lady Blundell (née Halligan, 19 June 1922 – 31 October 2012) was the wife of Sir Denis Blundell, former

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand () is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the Advice ...

. She was known in her own right for her extensive community activism and welfare work.

Biography

Lady Blundell was active on behalf of the Order of St John as Vice-Patron and later Patron of the St John Northern Region Branch and had a devoted interest in St John Youth. In 1972 Lady Blundell was appointed Commander of the Order of Saint John (CStJ), in 1988 promoted to Dame of Justice of the Order of Saint John (DStJ) and in 2004 promoted to Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint John (GCStJ). In 1977, she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. At the end of Sir Denis's term of office as

Lady Blundell was recognised for her service to New Zealand on 1 November 1977 and appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

for community service. On 6 February 1988 Lady Blundell was the sixth appointee to the

Order of New Zealand The Order of New Zealand is the highest honour in the New Zealand royal honours system, created "to recognise outstanding service to the Crown and people of New Zealand in a civil or military capacity". It was instituted by royal warrant on 6 F ...

."The Order of New Zealand" (12 February 1988) 23 ''

New Zealand Gazette The ''New Zealand Gazette'' (), commonly referred to as ''Gazette'', is the official newspaper of record the New Zealand Government (government gazette), serving as the medium by which decisions of Government are promulgated. Published since ...

'' 447 at 448. In 1990, she was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.

Activism

She was heavily involved in the Cancer Foundation of New Zealand for many years. She was the founding Patron of the Child Cancer Foundation, contributed to the instigation of CanTeen, was active with the Homai College for the Blind,

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

New Zealand and the Asthma Society of New Zealand.

Family

June and Denis Blundell married in 1945. They had a son and a daughter. Denis Blundell died in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia, in 1984. Lady Blundell died on 31 October 2012 aged 90 at Auckland Hospital following a brief illness.

Honours

(ONZ) *:

Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the ...

(QSO) *:

Venerable Order of Saint John The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (), commonly known as the Order of St John, and also known as St John International, is an order of chivalry constituted in 1888 by royal charter from Queen Victoria and dedica ...

(GCStJ)

References

External links

Statement on the website of the Governor-General of New Zealand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blundell, June 1922 births 2012 deaths Companions of the Queen's Service Order Dames Grand Cross of the Order of St John Members of the Order of New Zealand Spouses of New Zealand governors-general