Juanita P Gilkey (Neatie) Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Juanita P. Gilkey, affectionately known to family and friends as “Neatie,” was born on May 1, 1928 in Warren, Ohio to the union of John Sr. and Dixie Jackson. On September, 28, 2015 she heard the flutter of Angels’ wings and surrendered herself into the caring hands of The Lord. She spent her childhood growing up in Warren Ohio, the second of three Jackson children. She graduated from Warren Harding High School and moved with her family to South Bend, Indiana as a young woman. After working a variety of jobs, she settled on a nursing career and dedicated her life to the healing of others. Juanita met and married William Gilkey in the early 1960s. Their union was blessed with one daughter, Nikki Nicole. She was full of life and blessed with natural beauty, style, grace and a wicked sense of humor. She was fiercely independent, the life of the party and held court at most family reunions. Nevertheless, she was serious when it came to nursing and the well being of countless of patients who relied on her care. Juanita was also instrumental in coaching and encouraging other young women and men to pursue nursing careers. Juanita became an LPN in 1961, earning her degree from Ivy Tech & Indiana University. She continued her education and earned her associates degree in nursing from Southwestern Michigan College in 1978; a certification in Geriatric Nursing from Ivy Tech in 1981; and a B.S. in Health Arts from St. Francis in 1980. She began her long-standing nursing career at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in pediatrics and excelled to St. Joseph’s psychiatric and intensive care units. She worked in supervisory positions at Carlyle Extended Care, St. Joseph’s Medical Center and South Bend Convalescent Center, where she served as Director of Nurses from 1979 to 1981. Juanita was vice president of nurses at Michiana Community Hospital from 1981-1987 and director of nurses at Fountain View Place Nursing Home from 1990-96. She also cared for children, working as a school nurse for the South Bend School Corporation from 1987-90. In 1996 Juanita and William opened Gilkey's Lil’ Tots Day Care, which they operated until 1999. She was a founding member of the South Bend Drifters and a long-standing member of The National Drifters, Inc. and Women in Touch. Her professional memberships included the American Nurses Association, Black Nursing Association, Indiana University Alumni Association, Administrative Nurses Association and the St. Francis Alumni Association. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, William Gilkey Jr. ; daughter, Nikki Byron; brother, John Jackson Jr.; sister, Blanche Harden; brother-in-law, Clinton F. Harden; sister-in-laws, Mattie Dukes and Willa Connors. Her memory will be cherished by her granddaughter, Allegra Marie and son-in-law, Owen Byron; Ashley Powell and Lawrence Bernard Powell Sr. , who loved her as “Grandma Neatie; nieces, Lynn Harden and Gayle Harden (Julian) Renfro, both of Cincinnati, OH, special niece and nephew, Carolyn (Larry) Powell and John Jackson III, both of whom she helped raise; nephews, Thomas and Timothy Jackson; niece, Jacquelyn Jackson, all of South Bend.; great niece and Jenifer Renfro (Mark) Teasley; sister-in-laws, Denoris J. Jackson of Mishawaka, IN., Betty Jackson, Corine Ross and brother-in-law Joseph Dukes, all of South Bend, IN; great-great nieces and nephews, Lakayla, Lawrence Jr., Lawron, Lawrell, Paris, Layah Powell, Aryelle Smith, all of South Bend, IN., Timothy Jackson Jr. of Covington, GA., and Khymberlee Jackson of Peru, IN. Services entrusted to: Alford Mortuary of South Bend, IN and Renfro Funeral Services of Cincinnati, Ohio

Juanita P Gilkey (Neatie)

May 1, 2015 - September 28, 2015