Juanita Keadle Adams

Juanita Keadle Adams, a true servant of God and a humble daughter of the South, went home to be with her Maker on July 26, 2021 to be greeted by a grand reunion of family, friends and loved ones.

She was the last surviving child of the 10 children raised by P.J. and Lula Mae Keadle and was born in the very small bump in the road in deep south Georgia known as “Hopeful” and in a sense that term defined her positive attitude and quest for learning throughout her life.  She walked barefoot to school and worked “stringing tobacco” in barns along with other teenagers after the harvest was gathered in the fall.   She never felt her family was poor because they always had plenty to eat and regular fellowship at church, and every other family in the community was in a similar position.

Juanita played on her high school basketball team back when high school only went through the 11th grade.   Fifty years later when her granddaughters were warming up for their elementary school games, she loved to go out on the court and shoot layups with the team. She and two of her sisters attended what was then known as Bessie Tift College in Forsyth, Georgia and rode the train for the 120 mile journey to and from home when they were on break.

Juanita taught school in Monticello, Georgia on a two year teaching certificate while waiting for her fiancee, William Adams, to return from WWII.  She owned no car at the time and easily traveled around town on her bicycle.  She married William in 1946, after he returned from the war.  While William attended veterinary school Juanita worked for Dean William Tate, who was Dean of Men and a leading figure at the University of Georgia for decades.  They lived in a very small camping trailer which was located in their landlord’s backyard when their first baby, Walt, arrived.  William and Juanita and seven other UGA students, who rented rooms inside the landlord’s house, all shared the one bathroom that was available.    

After William graduated they moved to Clinton, South Carolina, where they set up a veterinary practice and had a second child, Ann.  In the late 1950s William began working with the Georgia Poultry Laboratory and they moved to Tifton, Georgia where they had a third child, Susan.  Most recently, Juanita and William moved to Gainesville in 1967, where she has lived for more than 50 years, and where William served as Executive Director of the Georgia Poultry Laboratory. 

They joined First Baptist Church in 1968 and much of Juanita’s time, energy and focus were devoted to her beloved church and missionary projects throughout the sojourn of many pastors. She enlisted the help of lady volunteers at her church, and for several years in the late 1960s, worked with teenagers at the local Youth Detention Center to teach them cooking and sewing and any other activity they could think of.   Most notably she worked tirelessly at church as a self-taught teacher of the English language and with the Vietnamese Ministry at First Baptist from its inception in the 1970s – a ministry which held a very special place in her heart.  She diligently helped countless Vietnamese and other Internationals study for and pass their U.S. Citizenship tests, and then attended and celebrated virtually all of their citizenship ceremonies in Atlanta.   When Juanita was in her early seventies she traveled to Germany and Alaska on mission trips and finally toured the Holy Land.  She quietly ministered to others in any way she could and delivered Meals on Wheels into her early eighties.

Juanita was never in a hurry – and in fact could not be rushed – but enjoyed all kinds of lake activities, including swimming, boating, waterskiing and trying to teach her grandchildren how to clean and gut fish. She loved hosting gatherings and her home was always open to family and friends.   She made the best fried chicken and banana pudding ever.   She and William were veteran campers and enjoyed traveling in their RV with friends and grandchildren after he retired and until his death in 1993.

She preferred to work in the background with no attention being called to her.  However in 1994 Juanita’s 12-year-old granddaughter nominated her for Turner Network Television’s SuperCitizen of the Week because of her longtime work with the Vietnamese immigrants and other community involvement. She was chosen for that award and featured in a video on TNT; later Juanita and the granddaughter attended the award banquet for all SuperCitizen recipients at TNN Center in Atlanta.

In 1996 she hosted an Olympic family as their son participated in local Olympic events.   In 2007 Juanita was recognized by the local Girl Scouts Organization as its “Woman of Distinction” at its annual banquet.  Much to her dismay she had to give a short speech at that banquet and her opening line was: “It’s amazing what can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.”  

She loved tackling a new mental challenge and participating in book and Bible studies,  and had even studied parts of the Koran to compare it with the Bible. Her favorite game was “Scrabble” and Juanita played it with her grandchildren whenever she had an opportunity. When she was in her mid-eighties, she soundly whipped her college educated grandchildren in the vocabulary game of “Hang Man”; she could not be stumped despite the difficulty of the words they chose, much to their consternation.  She guessed the word “rhombus’ after three letters.

As her memory faded in recent years, and even as she became a resident of an Assisted Living facility, a few things held true. Every Sunday morning she got up and rode the church bus to attend services at First Baptist and sat in her regular seat.  As she later entered Memory Care the medical community gave her a diagnosis of dementia.  However, we know that her mind and her heart were simply filled to overflowing with such wonderful experiences and memories over 95 years of living that they just ran out of space.  No matter what the circumstances, she never lost her heart, her soul, her practicality, her Southern manners or her laughter.  Juanita had a heart and spirit of patience, kindness and acceptance of others with an almost total lack of anger–she will be greatly missed by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and her many Vietnamese and International friends.

Juanita Adams was predeceased by her husband William Walters Adams, brothers Paul Keadle, Spencer Keadle, Charles Arnold Keadle, and Vance Keadle, and sisters Virginia Keadle Williams, Madge Keadle Shelley, Dorothy Keadle Marshall, and Nan Keadle Gurley. Her immediate family survivors are son Walt Adams and wife Amy, daughter Ann Shuler and husband Jack, daughter Susan Simpson and husband Dave, granddaughters Haley Hobson (James), Ellen Herron (Mitch), and Lydia Simpson, and grandsons Dustin Adams, Patrick Shuler and Davis Simpson. 

Many thanks to the kind and thoughtful staff at Phoenix Senior Living and especially to the wonderful people from Northeast Georgia Hospice – thank you for loving and caring for our mother and for holding our hand for the past 17 months. To hospice workers Dayna, Liz, Abby, Monique and John, along with special sitters Shana and Shirley, you will forever be in our hearts.

Juanita is also survived by seven great-grandchildren who brought much joy and many hugs to their beloved “Gae Gae” over the past nine years. She is survived by sisters-in-law Susie Keadle of Pearisburg, Virginia, and Patsy Keadle of Inman, S.C., and more than a hundred nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews scattered mostly throughout the South.  Very special friends include Joe Tu, the Vietnamese Pastor at First Baptist Church, his wife Cindy, and their children Joshua and Joy Beth.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home and Family Ministries, www.georgiachildren.org, P.O. Box 329, Palmetto, GA 30268, or to the First Baptist Church, Gainesville, GA. 

Funeral services will be held at 12:00 pm Thursday, July 29, 2021 at Memorial Park North Riverside Chapel. The family will receive friends from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.

Juanita preferred bright cheerful colors and rarely wore black. So please wear something for the hot summer - something bright, cool and comfortable as we celebrate her life.

Memorial Park Funeral Home North Riverside Chapel, 989 Riverside Dr. is in charge of arrangements.

Send online condolences to www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com. 

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