Juanita Fay (Jones) Slunaker, 86, of Lone Oak, Texas went home to be with the Lord on Saturday, November 7, 2020. Juanita was born August 23, 1934, to a loving mother and father, the second oldest in a family that came to have eight children.

She grew up happy, safe, and loved in the little town of Olney, Illinois. She met Rex Slunaker in high school and knew he was the one. They were married shortly after graduating; he was in the Army so they traveled the country for a time with her oldest son, Rick, making his entrance in 1953, and his sister Vicki in 1954. They eventually settled in Texas, where littlest sister Pam joined them in 1959. Juanita was a loving mother and homemaker while also working and helping to manage her husband’s business.

Always stylish, tall and slender, she was truly beautiful inside and out. In her later years, she retired to the large piece of wooded land they had purchased in east Texas. As the years passed, grandchildren and great-grandchildren came to know her sweet face and call her Mamaw. Even though that land was never a working farm, it has always been called “The Farm” by the horde of family that descended upon it regularly. There was always plenty of good homemade food and sweets for everyone and a perfectly laid table even if the meal consisted of a humble ham sandwich and potato chips! She adored gardening, and was blessed with a very green thumb. But of all the things in life she loved, sitting on the porch Rex built her and sipping coffee or a tall glass of iced tea and watching the peaceful progress of nature was her favorite.

She accomplished all the truly important things in life and has left the world a far better place for being in it. She is mourned deeply and is terribly missed. She will never be forgotten; her wisdom, faith and kindness live on in those who knew and loved her.

Juanita is survived by her children Rick Slunaker, Vicki (Slunaker) Merritt and Pamela (Slunaker) Chamberlain; siblings Timothy (Tim) Jones, Loretta M. (Jones) Mitchell and Janice K. (Jones) Kern; grandchildren, Jessica, Leah, David, Mikaela, Shiloh and Emma; and many great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Rex Slunaker; parents, Harrison E. Jones Sr. and Rosa M. (Bunting) Jones; brothers and sisters, Alice L. Jones, Harrison (Sonny) Jones Jr., Steven L. Jones (spouse June (Chaffin) Jones), Michael K. Jones and Kendal J. Jones (spouse Janet (Weiler) Jones.

The Olney Gazette, Olney, IL – Thursday, November 19, 2020