Instead, at 81, the soft-spoken and genteel Moss Beach woman overflows with energy.
Her latest undertaking is an art exhibit through February at the Pacifica Community Center, 540 Crespi Drive, in Pacifica. Miles will show about 20 paintings of varying sizes, for sale from $175 to $700.
 June Miles works in her sunny "everything room" on a painting of two sea-surrounded boulders in Japan that Shinto monks say represent man and woman. |
“I see something that appeals to me that I want to paint, and I want to see if I can bring out the depth and feeling of what I’m looking at,” she said.
Miles started painting in 1974 to “express on canvas” what she felt about the country, ocean and life.
She grew up in Santa Margarita and worked in San Luis Obispo and Salinas. In 1946 she married and came to San Francisco. Four children later, she settled in Moss Beach. She worked for 29 years with the Cabrillo Unified School District as a secretary/receptionist in the high school career and counseling center. Since 1975 she has served as a San Mateo County deputy registrar, opening her garage to voters. “Twice a year at election time, my garage (floor) gets mopped,” she joked.
Retirement didn’t slow her. She has sung with the Coastside Chorale for 51 years, volunteers in the Seton Medical Center Coastside gift shop, and is active with the local women’s and travel clubs and Native Daughters of the Golden West. And she walks a daily two-mile, hilly loop around Moss Beach.
How does she do it? “I try to get good work in every day, eat well, get eight hours of sleep a night, and that’s it,” she said.
Not every minute is filled. “Some days I feel kind of stagnant,” she said. “Then I might sit down and knit or crochet.”
But that’s rare. “I just try to keep busy,” she said.
Her children, including daughter Lynne Magee whose husband, Kevin, owns Bay Book Company, and four grandchildren live nearby. In addition, faith and a strong personal ethic keep her going.
“I’m a very spiritual person. I try to be a good person, and enjoy life,” she said. “You have to live right, not take advantage of others, and treat others as you want to be treated yourself, and be happy with what the Lord gives you.”
Members of Miles’ church plan an artist’s reception for her from 1-5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, at the center.
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