Juanita Holt Denton

She was born August 25, 1930 in Arkansas. She was the daughter of the late M.C. Holt and Clara Ellen Lambert Holt. She attended Ouachita University on a music scholarship and graduated with the Bachelor of Arts from the University of Louisville. She received the Master of Religious Education from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville and earned two Masters Degrees from Purdue University: one in Education and the other in Counseling. She also completed graduate coursework at the Merrill Palmer Institute in Detroit and Columbia University in New York City.

She served as the Director of Education for University Church at Purdue University. She was the co-owner of Family Associates in West Lafayette, Indiana which provided counseling and family education services. She is the co-author, with Wallace Denton, of the book, “Creative Couples: The Growth Factor in Marriage” and authored her memoirs, “Keep on the Sunny Side, which is available on Amazon.”

Juanita was a positive person who walked on the “sunny side” of life. She was a listening ear to many with whom she shared her wise counsel. She volunteered countless hours to her church and community and was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, George Wallace Denton; and brother and sister-in-law, Thomas and Ann Holt.

Survivors include her children, Wayne Holt Denton and his wife, Pamela and Susan Denton Staley, and her husband, Jim Beall; grandchildren, Owen Staley and his wife, Camille, Sam Staley and his wife, Aeryal, Amanda Manna and her husband, Matthew, Aaron Denton and his wife, Hayley; great-grandchildren, Sydney, Fred, Emma, Noah, Penelope, Sophia and Miles.

A graveside service will held at be 11 a.m., Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at the Oconee Hill Cemetery with the Rev. Carol Scroggs officiating.

Bernstein Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.