Juanita June Gelsleichter, age 91, passed away on October 15, 2022 at MedStar Montgomery Hospital.
She is survived by her husband Harold Gelsleichter of 72 years, and four children Jeannette Sartwell, Darnise Wallace, Harold Gelsleichter, Jr., and Gayle O'Connor, as well as 6 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and 7 great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her mother Erma Martin and father Raymond Durk. Juanita also lost both of her sisters Jeannette and Patricia when she was a child. Two half-brothers also preceded her in death.
Later in life her mother divorced and relocated from Rodgers, Ohio to the Washington DC area. Her mother met David Martin and remarried.
Juanita met Harold in Takoma Park, Maryland while working at Peoples Drug Store with Harold's sister Betty. Harold and Juanita married in 1950 and began their life raising their children.
Juanita began working in the local school cafeteria and also drove a school bus for Montgomery County Schools. She worked for the school system until her retirement after 25 years.
During Juanita's life she enjoyed travelling with her family in her RV with Harold. One of her most cherished memories was the trip they took to the West Coast and seeing the Grand Canyon.
Juanita also loved to spend time doing counted cross stitch embroidery projects and gave many to family as gifts.
During her retirement years, she and Harold traveled to sunny Florida being "Snowbirds" where they met and enjoyed the company of many friends playing the board game Aggravations.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at the Roy W. Barber Funeral Home on Friday, October 21, 2022. The viewing will begin at 11am until 12pm followed by the service at 12pm. Burial service will follow at Union Cemetery, 3001 Spencerville Rd., Burtonsville, MD 20866.
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