Juanita B. Mitchell, 71, of Wheatland, Wyoming, died of cancer June 19th in Casper, Wyoming. She was born February 19, 1946 in Cordell, Oklahoma. Growing up, music was a source of joy for Juanita. She learned to play the piano by ear at the age of three and after graduating high school in 1964, she traveled the US and Canada with a singing group called God’s Volunteers. After the tour with God’s Volunteers, she continued to travel across Europe with her friends. When her travels ended, she attended nursing school and became a licensed practical nurse along side her mother Juanita Lois in Mankato, MN, where she met Dennis Eugene Mitchell. The two married in December 1968. Dennis’s time in the service and his job thereafter took them to Hawaii, New York, and North Dakota. They finally settled in Wheatland, Wyoming in 1979 where Juanita was a nurse for 26 years. After retiring from nursing, she continued her care of others as a senior companion by visiting homebound residents, assisting with transportation to appointments, and sharing her love of music. In the years after Dennis’s death, Juanita shared many years with her long time significant other, Leon Schirmer of Rock River.
Juanita is survived by her son, Brent Mitchell of Waconia, Minnesota; daughter, Heather Mitchell Burch of Cheyenne; brother, George Neubert of Texas; sister, Lois Reub of Washington; and two grandchildren, Sawyer Morrison and Calvin Mitchell.
She was preceded in death by her parents, George and Juanita Lois Neubert and husband Dennis Mitchell.
A Celebration of Life will be held at the First Baptist Church, located at 540 N. 4th Street, Rock River, WY 82083, on Saturday, July 8, at 10am. Interment of her urn will take place in Wheatland, Wyoming. A short prayer service will take place at the Wheatland Cemetery at 4pm, the afternoon of Saturday, July 8.
