Juanita was born in Penitas, Texas on October 10, 1927. Juanita was preceded in death by her loving husband & daughters: Valdemar Lopez Cantu, Gracie Cantu Anzaldua and Yolanda Cantu Hinojosa; son-in-law Rene Anzaldua, and daughter-in-law Vengie Escamilla Cantu; parents - Benito Muñiz and Andrea Alaniz; siblings - Chuy Muñiz, Genobevo Muñiz, Maria Inez Hernandez, Aurelia Vasquez, Reyes Muñiz and Oscar Muñiz.
When Valdemar Lopez Cantu first saw Juanita it was love at first sight. She was chaperoning her little brothers and sisters at the movie theatre. They married on August 23, 1943, and over the span of 14 years, they had three daughters and two sons. Juanita and Valdemar traveled throughout California, Missouri, Oregon, and several Texas locations harvesting grapes, beets, cotton, sorgum, grain. Juanita wholeheartedly supported Valdemar during his combine harvesting endeavors that seasonally would take him away from her and the kids. She kept herself busy, supporting the family on her end by teaching herself how to make dress patterns from newspapers via magazine pictures. She would sew her creations using her Singer foot pedal for ladies from Raymondville and for her daughters. She would sew gowns and dresses with layered petticoats. As an independent business woman, she also operated a filling station and a fruit stand.
As the oldest daughter of Benito Muñiz but a young child herself, Juanita had to stay home to help her father raise her younger siblings after being abandoned by her mother and never able to attend school. As the story goes, her heart's desire was to be able to read. One day while sewing, a homeless person came knocking at her front door asking for some water. She only had 25 cents on her sewing machine so she gave him this to go buy a hamburger and something to drink. This man pulled out a pamphlet from his bag and handed it to her. She told him to keep it as it would be of no use to her as she did not know how to read. The pamphlet that he handed her was titled "Yield to God and You Shall See" and with this, Juanita taught herself to read.
Juanita was known for her singing capabilities, often being invited by Mr. Francisco Grajales y Peña to come by the K-SOX radio station to sing over the radio. She even recorded a song with a "conjunto" but Valdemar did not let it go any further than that. Juanita was an avid sports watcher and loved to watch soccer, football, basketball, and golf. She also enjoyed telenovelas, as well as loved watching fishing and cooking shows. Juanita enjoyed getting visits from family/friends, getting telephone calls from family/friends, and sharing a meal with anyone visiting.
Juanita was truly dedicated to her daily Radio Vida. Nothing was more important than her daily listening, writing down prayer requests in her spiral notebooks which are too numerous to count, and praying over these requests. She would pray for anyone who asked and needed prayer with testimonies of prayers being answered.
Juanita is survived by her loving daughter, Melisa Cantu Magee (Joe) and two loving sons, Roberto Cantu and Baldemar Cantu (Marcella), son in law Santiago Hinojosa, 16 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews.
A private Celebration of Life and burial will be held in the near future.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that check donations be made out to Radio Vida in her memory and mailed to 2515 Heather Path, San Antonio, TX 78232.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.heavenlygracergv.com for the Cantu family.
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