Juanita “Jane” Garcia passed away on June 30, 2018, surrounded by family while at Kaiser Hospital in Fresno, California, due to complications from pneumonia. She was 93 years old.
Born in Belvidere, Illinois on May 11, 1925 to parents Rafael and Rafaela Huitzacua, she was the fourth of ten children. She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 64 years (Joe), middle son (Ralph), sisters Fran, Vicky, brothers Nick and Lambert.
Juanita will be deeply missed by her children Vivian (Brent) Mahar of North Fork, CA.; Joseph (Esther) Garcia of Pahrump, NV.; John (Laudie) Garcia of Santa Clarita, CA., ten grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews and countless friends.
She moved from Rockford, IL., to Los Angeles in 1950 with her husband, and with the family to Pico Rivera in 1965, where they resided for 49 years. After the death of her beloved husband she moved to North Fork in 2014 until moving to Madera in 2016.
She was a long-time member of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit #299. Besides being a loving wife and mother she worked her way up to a management position at Trojan Liquor Distributing Co .in Vernon, CA. where she retired from after approximately 25 years.
In 1967, at the age of 42, Jaunita decided to make it her mission to complete the necessary classes to earn the credits needed for her high school diploma and we are proud to say she did so with flying colors.
She was an avid seamstress and spent many a happy hour working on a sewing project. Family and friends were always enlisting her help with a sewing project and she was more than happy to handle the task. She was so accomplished that she became a Sewing Teacher’s Aide at the Adult School in Pico Rivera and covered the class for teacher when needed.
She had one of the strongest work ethics we have ever encountered. Her children were taught to treat others as we would want to be treated, to be honest, respectful, to always do our best, to take pride in America and above all praise to God.
Juanita is already greatly missed but we each have our memories to fall back on and we all know we were purely loved.
Graveside service will be held at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California. Arrangements are being handled by Serenity Funeral Home of Fresno, CA.
