So sorry to hear of Juanita’s passing.  I never met her, but she was a friend to my mother, Frances Monaghan née Mack, when both were little girls in Port Jefferson Station.  One of Mom’s earliest memories was of playing with Juanita.  Frances passed on March 8, 2022, at age 93, just about one month apart.  There are several photos of Mom and Juanita, from about 1932 or 1933, on display at Mom’s memorial service.  Despite the passage of years, I knew instantly Juanita was the lady in this photo!  
May Our Lord richly bless them both in Heaven!  
Kathleen Monaghan and Ellen Kaspar,
Frances’s daughters.


My mom, Frances (Mack) Monaghan, was Juanita’s friend and neighbor on Liberty Ave in the early 1930s.  I guess they grew apart after their youth, so I never had the pleasure of meeting her, but I heard Juanita’s name frequently in mom’s remembrances of her early years. My mom also passed in 2022. I’m saddened to hear of Juanita’s passing. 

We met Juanita in 2011 or 2012 when I happened to pass her while she was on her way to the Port Jefferson Station post office with her walker.  I offered here a ride, which she accepted gladly.  After dropping her off and exchanging numbers, she said "You can give me rides lots of places!"

While she lost a bit of her independence over the years we knew her, she stayed just as witty and spirited as always.  She loved to talk about her late husband, how she learned to walk at only 9 months of age, how she loved to dance, how she was related to Dizzy Gillespie, and about that time she visited Niagara falls.   She never shied away from speaking her mind, or making it clear when she disagreed with you.   She had a very big personality fit inside such a tiny woman.  

She remembered important details about us.  Even though she only met a few of my siblings very briefly, from that time on she would ask how they were doing.  She was always interested in hearing how our parents were, and how the kids were doing.  

She didn't have a lot of worldly possessions, but she was always on the lookout for toys and trinkets to give to our children, many of which honored her Native American heritage.  In exchange we shared with her some of the things we knew she loved: magnets from cities we visited, watermelon flavored gum, and Butterfinger chocolate bars.   

Juanita changed our family for the better, and we will always be grateful for the opportunity we had to know her.  She is our friend and our New York grandmother.  She will forever be missed by our family and never forgotten.  We love you Juanita!

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William Gillespie

Walter Thompson

Estelle Thompson

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Cole Banigan

O. B. Davis Funeral Homes

Juanita Thompson

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Juanita Thompson

November 12, 1925 – April 4, 2022

O.B. Davis Funeral Homes

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