Juanita Kissling

1922 - 2016

94, of Marietta, Georgia, formerly of Louisville, passed peacefully on June 26, 2016.
The daughter of Otto and Eva Hudnall Pendley, she was born on May 21, 1922, in Rochester, Kentucky, one of 11 children. She attended Spencerian Commercial School, worked at the Federal Reserve Bank in Louisville and at the Wesley Community House. She was a graduate of Nazareth College and taught school at Roosevelt Elementary School. After receiving her MA in Library Science at Spalding College, she was a Media Librarian at Lincoln Elementary School and Breckinridge Elementary School. She was a member of Fourth Avenue Methodist Church, where she served as a children's Sunday school teacher, was chairperson of the leadership council, and worked in the United Methodist Women's organization.
She served in leadership roles with the Kentucky School Library Association, attended national conferences of the American Library Association, and served on the Advisory Council of the Kentucky Library Association. In 2003, Juanita joined the Middletown United Methodist Church, where she served in hospitality and meal ministries and belonged to the Koininia Class. In 2014, she moved to Marietta, Georgia, to be closer to family, and joined the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, where she served in the prayer ministry and was in the Lewis Abbott Class.
She lived in the Parc at Piedmont Senior Living Home, where she was an Ambassador. Juanita enjoyed gardening, cooking, reading, travel, and fun with family and friends. She especially enjoyed laughter and stories. She was a Godly student of the Bible, was a prayer warrior, and shared her Light and Love of the Lord throughout her community. Juanita loved children and enjoyed playing games and reading stories to her grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Robert L. Kissling.
Juanita is survived by one son, Ronald Lee Kissling (Janie Barber); three grandchildren, Kurt Kissling (Jody Ma), Lori Collins (Turner Collins), and Robert Kissling (Carrie Ward), and four great-grandchildren, Maren and Mason Kissling and Caleb and Anna Claire Collins, plus one surviving brother, Carl Pendley (Mamie). She has countless nephews and nieces and friends who will miss her gracious and generous spirit, Godly counsel, and sparkle of love and joy. As one friend stated, "To know Juanita was to love Juanita." Another friend called her a "gem."
Visitation will be held on Friday July 8, from 6-8 pm at the Evergreen Funeral Home and Cemetery, 4623 Preston Highway, Louisville, Kentucky 40213. Funeral services will be held in Saturday July 9, at Middletown United Methodist Church, 11902 Old Shelbyville Road, Middletown, Kentucky, 40243, at 1 pm with a viewing in the sanctuary at noon. A reception will follow for everyone in the Fellowship Hall.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to the following charities: Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta Georgia, Epilepsy Foundation, Salvation Army, or Middletown United Methodist Church in Louisville.