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Very little could tear him from football

Former Palm Harbor University High School football coach Mike June, who kept coaching as long as he could, dies of leukemia at 43.

By BOB PUTNAM
Published July 12, 2006

PALM HARBOR - Mike June's game face was sometimes grim, but he had a heart that he never hid from his players.

The former Palm Harbor University High School football coach always was positive, even upbeat.

"It seemed like there was nothing that could get him down," said Gibbs High assistant football coach Dave Cleppe, a former college roommate and close friend.

That was the image most people had of the coach, who died Tuesday (July 11, 2006) of leukemia, leaving his wife, Paula, and five children. He was 43.

Diagnosed with leukemia in November 2002, Mr. June went through chemotherapy treatments and was coaching again the next season.

But in November 2003, he found out that the cancer was no longer in remission. He went through more chemotherapy and returned to the sidelines.

Then came another relapse.

Told by doctors that he risked death if he continued to coach football and teach driver's education, Mr. June resigned in February 2005.

Mr. June never thought of his cancer as unlucky and did not indulge in self-pity, Cleppe said.

"Nurses would come into his hospital room and ask how he was doing," Cleppe said. "He always said, " 'Excellent.' "

Mr. June was buoyed by the support of friends and co-workers. Fundraisers, including a football game known as the Mike June Bowl, were held on his behalf to pay for medical expenses and family vacations.

Mr. June continued to go through chemotherapy and thought he was cancer-free. But it came back.

On June 26, doctors told him that he had only three months to live.

It ended up being two weeks.

Along with his wife, survivors include four sons, Mike, 13, Max, 10, Matthew 8, and Mitchell, 3 and a daughter, Mia , 2.

The viewing will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Curlew Hills Memory Gardens, 1750 Curlew Road, Palm Harbor, with funeral services at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3303 Belcher Road, Dunedin.

Fellow coaches planned to meet today to discuss possible ways to remember Mr. June this season.

"Mike fought through this for a long time," Seminole High football coach Sam Roper said. "I think the county should do something to recognize his spirit."

[Last modified July 11, 2006, 23:43:44]