Juanita Spence

Penn Yan

Juanita Spence, 89, of Penn Yan, died January 6, 2015 at Clifton Springs Nursing Home, with a standing room only crowd at her side. Within moments, the sky in the west turned golden.

Family and friends are invited to call from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16 at Townsend-Wood Funeral Home, E. Elm St., Penn Yan. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Jan. 17 at Dresden United Methodist Church.

Juanita was born May 14, 1925 to L. Warren and Grace Sisson Rogers on Bluff Point. She attended school on Bluff Point before advancing to "the big school" in Penn Yan, and although she never took algebra, she graduated from Penn Yan Academy in 1942.

She married Bernhardt C. Petersen June 30, 1946 in Bluff Point. Bernhardt died in a hunting accident in 1952. Juanita married Theodore Spence on March 20, 1953 in Penn Yan.

They raised their five children on a farm near Himrod before moving to Log Cabin Road in Torrey to be the first year-round residents there in 1971.

Juanita held a number of jobs ranging from a medical office professional to being the first local employee hired at the Morton Salt Mine in Himrod, but she became most well-known for her work as the first office manager for the New York Wine & Grape Foundation in Penn Yan.

She was a founding member of Women for New York State Wines, and was an avid promoter of New York State Wines, earning the Wine & Grape Foundation's Unity Award.

A natural songbird, she shared her love of music with the community through the Orpheus Club, Himrod Baptist Church, Dresden Methodist Church, Penn Yan Community Chorus and friends around Seneca Lake beach fires.

While she was dedicated to the wine and grape industry since her childhood as the daughter of a Bluff Point grape grower, her life was devoted to her family. She will be missed by her surviving children, the Rev. Lynn (Lorrie) Spence of Clifton Springs, Lyle (Shelley) Spence of Worland, Wy., Susan (Christian Claessens) of Canandaigua, and Gwen (Mark) Chamberlain of Dundee; grandchildren, Lisa (Doug) Smith of Oaks Corners, Casey (Missy) Spence, Patrick (Jessica) Spence and Amanda Spence of Clifton Springs; Christine (Jeremy) Busch of Loveland, Colo., Laura (Paul) Spence-Newhouse of Pasadena, Calif.; Kevin (Lenny) Cole of Lake Alfred, Fla., and Bradley (Lauren) Cole of Dundee; 13 great-grandchildren; a sister, Cornelia (Ron) Ketchum of Gorham; many dear nieces and nephews; and too many friends to count.

In addition to her first husband, Bernhardt, and her parents, she was predeceased by her husband, Ted, in 1999; their son, Daniel, in 2013; brothers, Ray, Robert, Warren, and Fred Rogers and her step-father, George Barrett.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Juanita's memory may be made to Dresden United Methodist Church, Box 172, Dresden, N.Y. 14441; Cobblestone Springs, 4306 Lakemont-Himrod Road, Dundee, NY 14837; or Friends of the Outlet Trail, P.O. Box 65, Dresden, N.Y. 14441.

Family and friends may sign the guestbook at www.townsendwoodfuneralchapel.com