Juanita Dickerson left this earth to be with the Lord on April 7, 2022. She was born Greta Juanita Beachboard on December 6, 1932, in Kansas City, Kansas to parents Pauline and Fred. She attended elementary school in Kansas City and moved with her family, including her younger brother Miles, to a farm in Howard County Missouri. She attended Fayette High School and graduated in 1950 with a class of 28 people.

Moving from the Big City to the farm with no electricity or running water was a culture shock for a 13-year-old girl, to say the least. However, it was there she met a neighborhood boy who would become the love of her life and husband, Lawrence Dickerson.

Juanita and Lawrence would go on to be married just short of 70 years. With Lawrence working for Armour Meat Company, at one point they lived in five different states in 6 years. They both felt those moves to new places made their marriage stronger. However, no matter how far away they lived, Howard County was home, and they always made the effort to visit as often as possible. They were a perfect couple and provided the perfect balance to one another. They set an excellent example for how a marriage should work and there was never a cross word heard between them.

If God wanted to make a perfect wife, mother, sister, grandmother, homemaker, or friend, Juanita was certainly the prototype. She always put others first and always aimed to please. She could talk to anyone with genuine interest and always made everyone feel comfortable and welcome in her home.

And of course, she could cook! You never went to her house when she did not offer you food. When we had big family meals, it was always perfect and there was never a shortage! And she was always serving everyone at the table, refilling glasses, and bowls, so that no one had to wait more than five seconds for a refill! She even made wedding cakes for special friends and family.

She was very proud of her boys, Doug and Mitch, and would do absolutely anything for them at any time. Never having had a daughter of her own, she cherished her time with her daughter-in-law, Vicki. She also adored her six grandchildren, Katie, Jimmy, Meghan, Sarah, Grant, and Adam. She was very proud of them and took great delight in spending time with them and catering to their every need.

Faith was a huge part of Juanita’s life. It began when she attended and taught Sunday School at Mt. Pleasant church near the farm. Whenever they moved to a new city, it was Juanita who got the family connected to the local Disciples of Christ Church. She was an avid believer in the power of prayer and lived a life focused on serving others. There was not a selfish bone in her body.

Among other things, she was proud that she obtained her associate degree after the boys has grown, and of her working career beginning at Alsop & Turner drug store and the ASC office in Fayette, the Salt River Project power company in Arizona, and later in the Kansas City Junior College system. She was also a proud member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and took the necessary steps to get her own granddaughters enlisted.

The last three years of her life were a real struggle as she battled the ravages of Parkinson’s disease and the associated complications. She was also a 20-year breast cancer survivor. In true form, she never complained about her circumstances. We are thankful for the care she received at The Lodge in her last years.

Juanita is survived by her husband, Lawrence; her brother, Miles Beachboard; her sons, Doug (Vicki) and Mitch; grandchildren Katie (Daniel), Sarah (Scott), Meghan (Craig), Grant (Zarina), and Adam (Cassie); and great-granddaughters, Paisley, Amelia, Blake, and Ellie. She was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Pauline Beachboard; sister-in-law Georganna Beachboard; and grandson, Jimmy Dickerson.

A funeral service for Mrs. Dickerson will be held at 11 a.m. on April 14, 2022, at Mt. Pleasant Christian Church, in rural Higbee, Missouri. A visitation will be held an hour before the service at the church starting at 10 a.m. Interment will be held at the Higbee City Cemetery.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Parkinsons Association or the DAR, in care of Friemonth-Freese Funeral Service, 174 Hwy. 5 & 240 N., Fayette, MO 65248.