Obituary of Juanita S Overton

Juanita S. Overton, 94, passed away quietly and gently on Saturday, March 6, 2021 following an extended illness. She was born on November 10, 1926 and grew up on a farm with her parents, AJ and Vadie Spangler in Copper Hill, VA, along with an older brother, Marvin and a younger brother, SL. She attended Pine Forest Elementary School and graduated from Bent Mountain High School in 1943.

Following graduation, she moved to Roanoke and went to work in a dress shop downtown and even worked in New York for several months as a buyer for the store. She then worked at Pugh’s Department Store.

She met our dad, Malvin, in 1946 and they married in 1948. She then became a stay-at-home mom with we three girls arriving in 1949, 1950 and 1951.

In 1957 she went at work at Roanoke Mills, 6^th Street, which became Roanoke Fashions and was later taken over and named Tultex. She worked there for more than 25 years, rising to a Supervisor position. During that time she helped set up one of the first Credit Unions in the Valley, ROMEBA for Roanoke Mills Employees. She then helped General Electric, N&W and Roanoke County Schools set up their Credit Unions. She served in many positions in the local and state chapters, traveling all over the country to Credit Union Conventions. Tultex decided to abolish jobs for employees who were getting close to retirement and take away all of the benefits they earned. She was among many who were whisked from their units and sent out the door. Needless to say, mom got MAD and decided to do something, so along with several others, filed a class action lawsuit against Tultex and WON for all of them. They all received the benefits that were due them and Juanita considered it her greatest accomplishment.

After leaving Tultex, she worked for Triple A Travel in Roanoke for 4 years before taking a job at the front desk of Roanoke Memorial Hospital where she worked for 10 years, including the flood of 1985. She loved working there would laugh saying, “It’s the only job I ever had where I could tell people where to go and get by with it.”

She always loved working outdoors, planting a garden, or flowers, or just puttering around. She never forgot to send cards to friends and family for special events such as birthdays, wedding, anniversaries, etc.

Mom was a unique woman and hard work was #1 with her always. She loved keeping busy and loved all the friends she made throughout her life. Sadly, age and memory loss began to rob her of all those memories she held dear. Her life was at times hard but mostly for her it was rewarding.

Juanita will be missed and remembered by her daughters, Brenda J. Jones (Gary), Carole M. Breedlove and Helen F. Ferguson; four grandsons; one granddaughter; five great-grandsons; four great-granddaughters.

Graveside services will be held at 3 pm on Tuesday, March 9, 2021 at Blue Ridge Memorial Gardens with Pastor Troy Mays officiating. The family will speak to friends following the service.

In lieu of flowers the family has requested that if you wish to do something please consider a donation to your local Fire and Rescue, the DAV or Angels of Assisi in her honor. Thank you all for the prayers and kindness shown to our family during this time. The family would also like to praise the staff in the Palliative Care Unit at Roanoke Memorial Hospital, as well as the Doctors, Residents and Interns who all treated her with tenderness, respect and dignity. The hospital Chaplains were also very comforting as they checked in daily to pray for mom and offer us comfort.

Expressions of sympathy may be sent to the family at www.simpsonfuneral.com