Juanita Ann Barnes Pyle, 81, of Nacogdoches, Texas, passed away unexpectedly on the morning of April 23, 2020. She was born in 1938, in Houston, Texas to Gladys Oneta Euell Barnes (Montana) and Guy Barnes (Alabama). A 1956 graduate of Jefferson Davis High School in the Houston Independent School District, she was a twirler and Captain of the Jefferson Davis Carlton Cadettes.
She attended one semester at The University of Texas before transferring to the University of Houston. She graduated the University of Houston in 1960 with a degree in Elementary Education with a minor in history. While at the University of Houston, she was a member of and Rush Chairman for Delta Zeta Sorority as well as the Director of the Delta Zeta chorus for Greek Week. She was also a Red Garter Girl for the Frontier Fiesta Celebration and, as a Red Garter Girl, was published in Life Magazine and in a photograph with Bob Hope in the Houston Chronicle.
She married Joe W. Pyle in 1960 and taught in Houston Independent School District before moving to Seattle, Washington. She taught in Seattle for 2 years before the birth of her first child. A job transfer then took her to Slidell, Louisiana where her second child was born. A job change then took her back to Houston, Texas, where she and Joe settled in Sagemont. She and Joe lived in Sagemont, where her third child was born, for 23 years. During this time, she taught in the Houston Independent School District and the Pasadena Independent School District. Another job transfer eventually took her to Montgomery County, Maryland. She and Joe then moved to Nacogdoches, where she lived out the rest of her life.
She is survived by her husband of 59 years, Joe W. Pyle; her son Jeffrey A. Pyle and his wife Linda P. Wills, and their three children Matthew Pyle, Caleb Pyle, and Catherine Pyle, all of Houston; her son Jonathan D. Pyle and his wife Viviana Szymanski Pyle, and their two children Joseph Pyle and Natalia Pyle, all of El Dorado Hills, California; and by her daughter Jennifer Pyle McCormack and her husband Max McCormack, and their two children Guy McCormack and Sarah McCormack, all of Nacogdoches.
Due to present restrictions imposed on gatherings, a private service will be held at 10:00 am, April 28th, 2020, at the Cason Monk-Metcalf Funeral Home, 5400 North St., Nacogdoches, Texas 75965. The private ceremony will be live-streamed over a link that will be available on the Facebook page for the funeral home. An interment will follow at San Pedro Cemetery, at the intersection of FM 2423 and FM 2022 in Grapeland, Houston County, Texas.
Arrangements are under the direction of Cason Monk-Metcalf Funeral Directors.
