June Lee was only a little girl when her father Lee Harvey Oswald was accused of killing the 35th US president John F. Kennedy. Being the first of the two daughters of Oswald, her life changed ever since. She has drawn attention from beyond America even as she tries to keep a private life despite her family ties with the man who negatively changed America’s history.
She is 62 years old and a mother. June is also a distant relative of former US President, Theodore Roosevelt and Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Here is more about her life.
She was born in Russia
June Lee Oswald was born on February 15, 1962, in Minsk, Russia where her father lived following his defection to the Soviet Union.
In Russia, her father met her mother, Marina Nikolayevna Prusakova (born in 1941).
June’s parents moved back to the US shortly after she was born. There, she was raised.
June had a somewhat normal early years as a child until her father became known as a president’s assassin. Regardless, she reported that despite everything, she had a happy childhood.
The younger Oswald was raised by her mother Marina Oswald, a Russian pharmacist, and her father until she was slightly over two years old. She was later raised by her mother and stepfather Kenneth Porter – a man her mother married in 1965 following her father’s death. She also took the last name of her stepfather.
June Lee Oswald has a younger sister, Rachel who worked as a bartender and later became a nurse. Lee’s younger half-sibling Mark Wayne Porter.
She was Only Two Years Old when Her Father Assassinated Kennedy but it Changed Her Life Forever
June was only 2 years old and 8 months old when her father assassinated John F. Kennedy. The killing by her father took place at Parkland Health, Dallas, Texas, United States on November 22, 1963. It remains one part of America’s history that cannot be forgotten and by extension, her father cannot be forgotten even though he was killed only a day after Kennedy.
June has gained the media’s attention since her father’s famous assassination of the president of one of the most famous countries in the world.
In all these, her mother tried to protect her from the media. Her mother, Marina also dressed her and her sister neatly always because she knew that people would often gaze and she didn’t want them to think they were pitiful.
June, her mother, and her sister survived on charity from people and organizations such as churches. In fact, people contributed thousands of dollars and other things to the family.
June Lee Oswald was 9 When She Learned Who Her Father Was
June did not know anything about her father being a killer until she was 9 while her sister Rachel was 7. Her mother sat her down with her sister and told them that the man they thought was their father was their stepfather. Then, it was at that point that she told them that Lee was their father and was accused of assassination.
That was when she understood why schoolmates and other kids would ask if their father was a killer. Some treated them differently.
The family keeps topics about Lee quiet, even with family. Regardless, June would sometimes be reminded by her mother that she has similar looks to her father. She also shares other characteristics with Lee Oswald.
To make it even more disheartening, there are no pictures of June or her sister with their father. Family pictures were confiscated following Lee Harvey Oswald’s arrest.
A Movie was Released About Her and Her Family
In 1991, a film, JFK was released about Kennedy’s assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald. The film was an adaptation of the books, On the Trail of the Assasins and Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Garrison and Jim Marrs respectively.
The film features the roles of different people in June’s family. Her role is portrayed by Maggie O’Neil. Her father was played by Gary Oldman, and her mother, Beata Pozniak. Her sister’s role was played by Lillian Lydersen.
While the film has been highly accepted, her sister has spoken against their portrayal in the film. The film projects June and Rachel as lonely and troubled children, whereas their lives are normal and happy despite the story that surrounds them as a result of their father’s crime.
The film also shows them singing that they will overcome. However, the sisters debunk this, stating that there is nothing like that in real life. They believe that the filmmakers thought of their lives to be in a certain way and they decided to make up a story using their beliefs.
In any case, the film was released when June and her sister were teenagers.
JFK is not the only film documenting their father’s crime. Others are films and documentaries such as Parkland, Killing Oswald, The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, Killing Kennedy, Four Days in November, and The JFK Assassination: The Jim Garrison Tapes.
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Where is June Lee Oswald Today?
Lee Harvey Oswald’s first daughter keeps away from the media and is living a normal life with her children. She is 62 years old and she gave an interview about her life and family in 1995.
She was married and has adopted her husband’s name but has chosen to keep her adopted name private. The marriage ended in 1992.
Regarding her career, she keeps that part of her life quiet. Nonetheless, she grew up in a family where her mother and sister are in the medical field. Her mother was a pharmacist until her retirement.
Her sister Rachel on the other hand went to a nursing school and later became a certified nurse.
Therefore, except June took a different turn in her career, she may as well be in the medical field.
June has tried to find ways to speak less about her father and also push for the release of records regarding the assassination. In her interview with the New York Times, it was revealed that:
Despite privacy concerns, she’s pushing for the release of all records pertaining to the assassination. “We have to get the Government to move before it’s too late.”
