Juanita Pollard Duddlesten

Raymondville, Texas
Juanita "Polly" Pollard Duddlesten, 102, of Raymondville, Texas, passed peacefully into the arms of the Lord on Monday, March 4, 2024, at her home surrounded by family.
She was born March 6, 1921, in Waskom, Texas, the daughter of Reuben and Mollie Bell Pollard. She married James "Jimmy" O. Duddlesten on February 7, 1943. They were married for sixty-four years. Polly was preceded in death by her loving husband and their daughter, Mary Katherine.
Polly was baptized into the First Presbyterian Church in Waskom, Texas, and later joined the Raymondville Methodist Church of Raymondville where she was a long-time member.
She graduated from Waskom High School in 1937, later attended Southwest Texas State University from 1937-38 and continued her education at Texas State College for Women in 1941, obtaining her B.S. degree in Education.
As a schoolteacher in Raymondville, Corpus Christi, and Greenwood, Louisiana, Polly taught countless students for over thirty-two years. Locally she taught Elementary Music and Junior High English. Her students remembered her years later on her 100th birthday, and shared stories of a dedicated, loving teacher. She served as a bookkeeper in a local cotton gin, worked at the post offices in Ruike and Corpus Christi, was a bookkeeper at a local packing shed and a counselor of a girls' camp. She served as President of the Raymondville Junior Service League for two terms. Her love of travel took her to all fifty states plus international travels to Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and Mexico. Polly and Jimmy loved to caravan with their lifelong RV friends and traveled as far as Alaska.
Polly is survived by her daughter, Karla Allene Roberson; son, James Allen (Karen) Duddlesten; grandchildren, Kevin (Elvia) Johnson, Jeremy (Erin) Duddlesten, Erin (Clayton) Holland, Kasey (Robert) Dodson, Andrew Duddlesten, Kallyse (Cameron) Crawford; ten great grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Polly's home has always been the hub for her extended family who will cherish their memories of her beautiful needlework, piano playing, dancing, sense of humor, wit, sincerity and sensibility. Polly's secret to longevity was a breakfast consisting of a Honey Bun with a Diet Coke.
Visitation will be held at Duddlesten Funeral Home on Wednesday and Thursday, March 6 and 7, 2024.
Funeral services will be held at the Raymondville Methodist Church, 192 S. Third St., Raymondville, Texas, on Friday, March 8, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow in the Raymondville Memorial Cemetery.
Donations may be made to the Raymondville Methodist Church, P.O. Box 825, Raymondville, Texas 78580.
Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Duddlesten Funeral Home, 604 W. Hidalgo Ave., Raymondville, Texas