Mrs. June Evelyn Samuel Brailsford, 87, of Beaumont, Texas, passed away on Saturday, July 25, 2026.

Celebration of Life Service for Mrs. Brailsford will be held on Saturday, August 1, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, located at 3920 W. Cardinal Dr., Beaumont, Texas 77705. Burial Services will be held on Monday, August 3, 2026 at 10:45 a.m. at The Houston National Cemetery in Houston, Texas. For your safety social distancing and facial masks are recommended.

JUNE EVELYN SAMUEL BRAILSFORD

June was born in Wiergate, Texas on April 11, 1939, to Jesse Marie and Lonnie Samuel. She spent her formative years in Beaumont, Texas where she attended Pipkin Elementary School and Charlton Pollard High School. Her lifelong love of music was developed during these formative years. She took private piano lessons, practiced on a piano that was given to her by her uncle and played for choirs at Mount Rose Baptist Church. After graduating from Charlton Pollard, she attended Prairie View A&M University where she majored in music, sang in the college choir, traveled around the United States with the choir and graduated with a bachelor's degree in musicin 1960.

During her freshman year at Prairie View, she met the love of her life, Marvin Brailsford. They married on December 23, 1960, and their union was blessed with three children: Marvin Jr., Keith, and Cynthia. For 65 years, her priority was always her husband and family. She gracefully balanced her family life and duties as an Army wife with her passion for music and education, pursuing advanced studies at Lamar University, Iowa State, and Jacksonville State University.

She earned a master's degree from Trenton State College in 1981 and studied music at The Juilliard School. She began her career teaching elementary school in Anniston, Alabama, and later directed the band and choir at Zweibreucken American High School in Germany. A passionate advocate for the arts, she supported symphony guilds and served as a minister of music, choir director, organist, or pianist at churches in Texas, Alabama, Iowa, Maryland, Colorado, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Germany while accompanying her husband on military assignments.

The highlights of her musical career included performing with Celine Dion and John Tesh at the Wolf Trap Amphitheater in Virginia, performing with gospel artist Shirley Caesar in Germany, and serving as an accompanist for the Paul Hill Chorale and Children's Choir at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Mrs. Brailsford selflessly dedicated herself to enhancing the lives of families wherever she and her husband resided, directly improving their health, welfare, and morale. During the Gulf War, she provided crucial support to the families of deployed soldiers. She also served on the advisory board of Route One Corridor Housing Incorporated, volunteered with the Red Cross, and assisted with Army Community Services in the United States and Europe.

Mrs. Brailsford actively engaged in the civic life of her community, alma mater, and church. She served on the Beaumont Historic Landmark Commission and the Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau. Passionate about education, she led fundraising efforts for student scholarships and established several endowments at Prairie View A&M University. A devoted member of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, she served as a deaconess and organized and directed the hymn choir. An avid student of the Bible, June also served as a discussion leader for Bible Study Fellowship International. She initiated a weekly family Bible study that has been in existence for the past five years.Mrs. Brailsford received numerous awards for her dedication, including the Molly Pitcher Award for Outstanding Community Service, the Department of the Army's Outstanding and Distinguished Civilian Service Awards, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Black College Alumni Foundation. She was also listed in Marquis Who's Who in America and Who's Who of American Women.

She was a life member of the NAACP and the Prairie View A&M National Alumni Association, as well as a member of The Links, Incorporated, and the Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society.

Mrs. Brailsford was preceded in death by her parents, Jesse Marie and Lonnie Samuel, and her beloved son, Marvin Delano Brailsford, Jr.

Her memory will be cherished by her devoted husband, Marvin; two children, Keith (Imee) and Cynthia Bartee (Arthur); two grandchildren, Brittny Warren (Demarcus) and Anthony Brailsford; and two great-grandchildren, Lennox and Lathan Warren. She is also survived by her brother, Willie Earl Samuel (Brenda); her sister, Joyce Marie Willard, widow of Percy Willard; and a host of nieces and nephews.