Juanita Francis Powers Somerville

Juanita Francis Powers Somerville,94, was a life-long resident of Owensboro, and the only child of the late Alec and Beulah Cahall Powers, who doted on her. For most of her childhood and young adult life, they lived on 1st Street by the Ohio River, where she was witness to the Great Flood of 1937 and the construction of the Owensboro Bridge. After graduating from Owensboro High School, where Juanita excelled in the band (playing the cornet), she then attended Owensboro Business College, then worked at the Owensboro National Bank as one of the first drive-through tellers. She met the love of her life, John R. Somerville, Jr, at a Halloween party arranged by friends for young ladies of Owensboro First Baptist Church and the young WWII veterans working at General Electric. As they raised three wonderful children, she was very involved in their lives. Juanita was a homeroom mother, Cub Scout Den Mother, PTA board member, and an active supporter of Little League baseball and Owensboro High School band and football. Later she worked as a secretary at Owensboro Middle School. Juanita was active at First Baptist, volunteering in the church kitchen and singing in the Senior Adult Choir; in fact, her love for The Lord was SO strong, that if distracted while driving, she would find she had automatically driven to church! She loved to travel overseas as hostess for her husband Jack's trips with General Electric to exotic places like St. Lucia, Egypt, Australia, and New Zealand, and First Baptist Senior Adults' trips to Spain, Switzerland, and Germany for the Oberammergau Passion Play. After her husband's passing in 2006, she moved to One Park Place, where she enjoyed dominoes, bingo, and participating in the One Park Place Singers. Her family would like to express their gratitude to all her doctors and caregivers over the years, the staff at One Park Place and with Home Instead, and everyone at Wellington Parc. We will miss her beautiful smile, and she will live in our hearts forever.

Those left to cherish her memory include her daughters, Patty S. Jones and her husband Chris of Houston, and Linda S. Henkel and her husband Keith of Little Rock; her son, John P. "Jack" Somerville and his wife Melissa of Owensboro; her grandchildren, Andrew R. Henkel, Sarah Volgas and her husband Nick, of Little Rock, Brit McGaw and his wife Tiffany of Mt. Washington, and Rachel King of Owensboro; and great-grandchildren, Riley, Carson, and Amy.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to First Baptist Church Music Ministry or The Help Office.

The funeral service for Mrs. Somerville will be at 12:00 Thursday at First Baptist Church. Visitation will be from 10 am until 11:45 at the church. Those attending will enter the church at the Daviess Street entrance. Entombment will be private at Owensboro Memorial Gardens. The number of those attending the visitation or funeral service for Juanita shall be within current health and safety directives. Family and friends shall wear appropriate personal protective masks. The service will be live-streamed on Facebook. You may access it at www.fbcowb.org

Memories and messages of condolence for the family of Juanita Somerville may be offered online at www.glenncares.com