June Pergola

June Pergola, 73, of Bermuda Run, NC passed peacefully surrounded by family Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at Forsyth Medical Center.

June was born in Brooklyn, NY on June 18, 1950 to the late Vito Joseph and Mildred Kerr Pergola. After graduating from Our Lady of Perpetual Help High School in 1968, she went on to attend Rivier College in New Hampshire where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics in 1972.

In 1978 she began working for U.S. Customs at JFK airport where she received multiple awards and commendations before being transferred to Headquarters in Washington DC in 1988. In 1991 she joined the Illegal Transshipment Prevention Jump Team as one of its founding members at Headquarters. In her role as an Import-Specialist she travelled extensively across Asia saving American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in skirted tariffs and illegally transshipped goods. This team has stopped billions of dollars’ worth of crime and fraud from occurring since its inception. She especially enjoyed visiting Hong Kong, Singapore, and Bangkok during her various assignments overseas.

In 2008 she retired from U.S. Customs and had more time for her passions including cooking, crafting, and travelling. Her delicious cuisine and gracious hosting were acclaimed by all she knew (as well as many she didn’t) and especially adored by her husband and children. Friends, family, and acquaintances alike delighted in receiving June’s lovingly crafted handmade cards for any and every holiday or occasion. Her thoughtful posts will be sorely missed.

Every year she went to Las Vegas with her husband and every summer for 25 years they went to Hilton Head and enjoyed family, the beach, friends, and margaritas by the pool. June especially loved the summer, in her youth lifeguarding at Breezy Point in Brooklyn and as a mother volunteering at her children’s swim meets. She will be profoundly missed by those she leaves behind and recalled fondly by all those she knew.

June is survived by her loving and devoted husband, James “Bob” Robert Dorsett; daughter Alexandra “Lexi” Swinimer; son, Nicholas Swinimer and his wife Becca; sister Barbra Ward; nephews Devin Ward and his wife Bri, and Rory Ward; granddaughter Gracie Dorsett; and her loving dog Louis Vuitton. A memorial service will be held at Klavins Funeral home in Brooklyn, NY later this summer.