Juanita Kelley

Goreville Juanita (Parks) Kelley, 90, of Goreville passed away at 5:45 AM on Tuesday, May 22, 2012, at Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion. Funeral services for Juanita will be on Friday, May 25, 2012 at 11:00 AM at Blue Funeral Home in Goreville, with Reverend RG Null & Dr. Ron Ferguson officiating. Visitation is from 5-8 PM at the funeral home in Goreville. Interment will follow the funeral service in Cana Cemetery-Goreville. Memorial donations are suggested to the donor’s choice; envelopes will be available at the funeral home or may be sent c/o Blue Funeral Home, PO Box 411, Marion, IL 62959. Mrs. Kelley was born on Tuesday, August 16, 1921, in Tunnel Hill Township to Archie Ward and Minnie (Bell) Parks. She married William “Bill” Don Kelley on Saturday, August 26, 1939. He survives. Mrs. Kelley is survived by her husband, Bill; daughter, Donna and Barry Eastman of Goreville, daughter, Pam Kelley and Gary Marx of Olathe, Kan.; daughter-in-law, Mary Kelley of Goreville; sister, Violet St. Aubin of Kankakee; sister-in-law, Doris Parks of Kankakee; grandchildren, Tia (Kelley) Fosse, Amber (Kelley) Hancock, Angela James, Travis Kelley, Teresa (Eastman) Weitlauf, Matthew Eastman, Melanie (Eastman) Barker, and Willa Billingsley; 14 great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her mother and father; sister, Janice (Parks) Trexler; brothers, Archie, Leo and Gene Parks; and son, Ron Kelley. Mrs. Kelley lived her entire life in Johnson County. She was the eldest child of Ward and Minnie Parks’ 6 children, and spent her childhood in the country between Goreville and Webb Town. She attended Goreville High School and graduated in 1939. She married Bill Kelley and they lived on Broadway on the south end of town, in a house she helped build with her carpenter father. She held many jobs over the years, including punch-press operator in the Ordill area Illinois Ordnance Plant during World War II, and corrections officer at the Vienna Correctional Center, Illinois Department of Corrections. Juanita valued providing for her family. She was talented at cooking and sewing, and was depended on as a beloved caregiver for babies, children and elderly. She loved traveling and meeting people, and she was always ready to take the wheel for a long-distance road trip or a local adventure. Her warm smile, sense of humor, and quick intelligence made Juanita a welcoming hostess and a wonderful friend. She was described as “classy,” and is remembered for her generosity, grace, and beauty — inside and out. When recently asked what values she tried to nurture in her children, Juanita said, “Honesty, hard work, having fun, and visiting relatives.” She was dearly loved as a wise, loyal and loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend, and she will be greatly missed.