Juanita Wallace Gatewood

Mrs. Juanita Wallace Gatewood, 84, of Murray, KY and formerly of
Fulton, KY passed away peacefully at 12:15 AM, Tuesday, December
02, 2014 at the home of her daughter, Tammy Eaker in Union City, TN,
surrounded by a host of her loved ones. The preceding day she was encircled and joined by family members singing favorite gospel and other guitar music. Her face absolutely glowed as she joined in as best as she could with singing of praises. Nita's final days were spent in the presence of her many loving family members and
friends taking care of her and sharing memories of days gone by.


Visitation will be held Friday, Dec. 5 from 5-8 PM at the Hornbeak Funeral Chapel in Fulton, KY. Graveside services will be conducted Saturday, Dec. 06, 11:00 AM at the Oak Grove Cemetery in Weakley Co., TN. She will be laid to rest beside her loving husband of 21 years, Ray Harvey Wallace. Miles Mayo will officiate at graveside. Memorials
may be made to the American Cancer Society, c/o Relay for Life,
302 Carr Street, Fulton, KY 42041.


Juanita was born Jan. 23, 1939, in Minnick, Obion Co., TN. She was the third of ten siblings. Nita was preceded in death by her parents, Alf and Suedell Stover Cunningham; her husband, Ray Wallace and husband James Gatewood, brothers; John Ray Cunningham, Joe Matt Cunningham, Sr.,James Lynord Cunningham, an infant brother and a sister, Mary Camelia Cunningham.


She is survived by four children; Gordon (Elaine) Forsythe of Tyngsboro, MA, Eddie (Geri) Forsythe of Murray, KY, Van Harvey (Susan) Wallace of Fulton, KY, Tammy (Bobby) Wallace Eaker of Union City, TN, two step-children; Vickie (Tommy) Wallace Johnson of Martin, TN, Scott (Loni) Wallace of Murray, KY.


In addition she leaves nine grandchildren; Ryan (JoAnn) Forsythe, Brad (Annie) Forsythe, Kelly (Colin) Drury all of Massachusetts; Eric (Christine) Erskine of New York City, Courtney Forsythe, Charity ( James) Mounce and Jessica (Skylar) Vanover of KY; Austin (Heather) Davis of Sidonia, TN, Travis Davis of Dresden, TN and Sarah Smith of Jackson, TN, four step-grandchildren; Tracy (Jeff) Bennett of South Fulton, TN, Teresa Decker of Martin, TN and Andy (Susanne) Collins of Henry, TN and Jeanne (Brett) Ashley of San Angelo, TX.


Her ten great- grandchildren are Carson Forsythe, Mason Forsythe, Reagan Forsythe, Courtney Jo Mounce, Wesley Mounce, Marvin Ray Vanover, Chloe Vanover, Wyatt Davis, Levi Davis and Jonathan Davis; and her eight step-great grandchildren are; Joshua Bennett, Ginna Bennett, Tyler Decker, Rachel Decker, Cameron Collins, Anne Claire Collins, Haleigh Jo Ashley and Jase Ashley and one step great-great-grandchild Noah Decker.

Juanita is survived by her brother, Stover (Joyce) Cunningham of Dukedom,TN, three sisters; Dallene (John) Harbour of Union City, TN, Carolyn Wells of Olive Branch, MS and Ann (Mike) Cherry of Dukedom, TN.

She attended schools at Minnick, Cunningham, Cloverdale and graduated from Hornbeak High School in 1949. She loved to sing and was a member of the Hornbeak Quartet in the late 1940's and early 1950's. She was a typesetter for the Union City Daily Messenger. Nita traveled extensively while married to Ray, a career Air Force serviceman, living in California, Alabama, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Illinois
until Ray's death in 1977. She was a Sunday school teacher for many years to the adult ladies class at the South Fulton Baptist Church.


Nita's passions were her flowers, crafts, needlework and sewing- especially quilting. She sewed numerous quilt tops, hand-quilted them and presented them as gifts to her family. She never threw anything out as she could envision and create it into a craft or project to be passed along to family, friends and even stranger she met in hospitals or traveling. Many stories were told of her
joy in the sharing of her hand-made crafts to others. Her cookies, candies and food dishes have been the delight of generations. As a mother, she even drew pictures for her children to color or paint rather than purchasing them. She was tremendously talented in so many ways. She will be and already is missed by many.