In Memory of June Hopps Pollack

June Hopps Pollack June Hopps Pollack, 93, of Ithaca, died peacefully on October 25, 2026, in Bend, Oregon. She had her family around her and a kitty cat on her bed. June was born July 24, 1933, in New York City, the daughter of Stewart and Jean Ferguson Hopps. She was independent and adventurous from the start. At ten, June went to live with the artist Arthur Kaufmann and his wife Elizabeth, who became her surrogate family. June attended Smith College and Columbia University. She also studied and taught classical piano at the New England Conservatory of Music. She married Bob Appleton, an Episcopalian minister, and had a daughter, Betsy, in 1963. That marriage lasted only a few years. In 1967, she met Dennis Pollack. June and Dennis moved with Betsy to Danby, New York, where they bought a piece of undeveloped land. They built their own house and barn, learning as they went. They gathered animals nobody else wanted.

This excerpt comes from the named source. Read the original for the full reporting.