Hired by the Seattle Times in 1951 to work in the “Society Department,” by the late 1960s she was the women’s news editor. Tiring of “society” news dominating news for women, Almquist focused instead on issues facing women, such as women’s rights, birth control, and women in business.
“I had realized that …there were exciting times ahead,” she recalled in a 1980 interview. “The tea party was over, and as the women put down their cups and entered the worlds of business, professions, industry and government, our section followed them.” It was a trend that spread to other papers.
“So much of what we see today in modern feature sections in newspapers had their origins in June,” said Seattle Times President Mason Sizemore. “She was one of those people whose feet were in the old ways of doing things but who could bridge the new ways.” Almquist died April 2 of cancer. She was 75.