Endowed scholarship honors Dr. June Rose
Long-time Kinston, N.C., dentist Dr. Junius (June) H. Rose was honored with an endowed scholarship in his name at a reception at the ECU School of Dental Medicine on November 6.
Nearly 70 guests, including dentists from Greenville, Kinston and across the state, Dr. Rose’s family, friends, and ECU dental students, celebrated the greatly admired community member and the scholarship that bears his name.
Greenville dentist Dr. Don Hardee and his wife Peg Hardee organized the June Rose Endowed Scholarship Fund, which will provide financial assistance for ECU dental students from Pitt, Lenoir and the contiguous counties who have a passion for working with underserved populations.
“For this kind man, who has given so much of his time and himself to the eastern North Carolina communities, I felt it only fitting that a scholarship be established in his name. I am asking that anyone he has touched through the years make a donation to his scholarship,” said Hardee.
“It is very appropriate that the scholarship sponsors have chosen to honor Dr. June Rose with a scholarship at the ECU School of Dental Medicine,” said Dean Greg Chadwick. “His passion to serve others and his professional career align perfectly with the mission of our school. He is a true role model for our students.”
“Dr. Rose has been a mentor and an inspiration to so many of us here tonight,” said Kinston dentist Harold Lancaster. “He’s been a hero to me for many years by giving so unselfishly of his time to the community through dentistry and local organizations.
Junius H. (June) Rose, Jr. grew up in Greenville, the son of long-time Pitt County Schools Superintendent Junius H. Rose, who served the county for 47 years, and for whom the local high school is named. He graduated from East Carolina Teachers College (now ECU) in 1951 with a degree in science and math and then served two years active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. He graduated from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry in 1957 and was on staff at the Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh from 1957 to 1959.
Dr. Rose owned a private dental practice in Kinston from 1959 to 1998. In 1998, he co-founded a dental clinic for indigent and Medicaid patients in the Kinston Community Health Center. He also served as a staff dentist at the Howell Care Centers in Kinston from 1998 to 2013. He is currently an associate in the practice of Dr. Don Hardee in Greenville.
Professionally, Dr. Rose served as past president of the North Carolina Society of Dentistry for Children, assisted on several dental missions in Jamaica and Honduras, and served as a dentist in the North Carolina National Guard for 28 years, retiring as a colonel. He has served on both local and state dental societies holding various positions and has volunteers with the North Carolina Dental Society’s Missions of Mercy mobile dental clinic.
His extensive civic activities include serving on the Lenoir County Mental Health Board for 25 years (and as president for four years), member of the Kinston Rotary Club since 1963, member of Westminster Methodist Church since 1958, American Legion member, and member and president of the 8-80s Wounded Warriors Team.
He was recognized as the Lenoir County Citizen of the Year in 1999 and received the Boy Scouts of America Distinguished Citizen Award in 2012. He was also named as a Red Cross Citizen of the Year, received the NC Dental Society Citizenship Award and the Lenoir County Historical Association’s Reginald Stroud Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2005, the Governor bestowed upon him The Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
“I am so pleased about this scholarship,” said Dr. Rose. “I hope it helps many students get through school so they help people in our area of the state. Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed.”
Those wanting to contribute to the June Rose Endowed Scholarship Fund may contact the ECU School of Dental Medicine.