Juanita Conner Barnett Passes on July 6, 2023

 Ms. Juanita Barnett is pictured here.

   After Ms. Juanita Conner Barnett’s extended family received friends at Faith Temple, Taylors, SC — where Juanita, 77, was a member for almost 60 years — a crowd gathered there for her 4:00 p.m. funeral on Monday, July 10, 2023.  

Before the service, Mrs. Sandra Martin played “Victory in Jesus” on the piano.   

Pastor Raymond D. Burrows, Faith Temple’s pastor, welcomed the congregation. He said he stood by Juanita’s bedside after she had “slipped into unconsciousness” and read Psalm 23. He read again Psalm 23 and prayed.

Mr. Joe Howard, playing guitar, and Mrs. Teresa Howard, his wife (and a niece of Juanita), sang “Some morning you’ll find me touring that city where the Son of God is the Light… .”

Juanita had asked for Mr. Don Lollis, 80, to speak. A 25-year Faith Temple attendee, Don listed work Juanita did at the church: Sunday School superintendent, S. School teacher, children’s church leader, “sending bulletins to absentees,” ladies ministry, etc. “In 25 years, I never heard one bad thing said about her,” he said, adding that Juanita would hear at heaven’s gate, “Well done, thou good and faith servant.” “She deserves every bit of it [praise]. She was a very special lady,” he said.

Faith Temple’s ministry team sang “Blessed Assurance.”

“Where do you begin? Ms. Juanita is worthy of a week-long, a month-long service,” Pastor Burrows said. “She is rated among the best of people.”

One of nine children born to sharecropping parents, Juanita “grew up very hard,” Pastor said. A few weeks ago she told him her parents taught her honesty and hard work. “She respected her parents,” he said, adding that at age 12, she received Christ, working 65 years for the Lord. “For about 28 years, I knew her,” he said. 

Juanita married Jay Barnett in 1961 and began working in 1969 at Faith Printing Company (FPC) for Pastor James H. Thompson, the founder of Faith Temple. She worked at FPC for 46 years, retiring in 2016. “Preacher Thompson thought a lot of her,” Pastor said.

During her last days, Pastor Burrows asked Juanita for a humorous story. She told him her husband came home and said he and friends had bagged 20 rabbits. She didn’t believe him until she went to see. “And sure enough, they had,” she said.

“I never sensed a sour attitude,” Pastor said. “She was loving, generous.”

He compared Juanita to Hannah of the Bible. He said Mrs. Katina Henson used to go home from church with Juanita and spend time with Juanita and Jay. “Who knows how many young lives she touched,” Pastor said. “Juanita is also in the company of Mary, mother of Jesus. Mary was a regular human being.” When an angel told Mary she would give birth to Jesus, Mary said, “Be it unto me according to thy word.” Pastor indicated that Juanita responded to the Lord the same way, wanting God’s will done in her life. 

“Did she touch your life, Brother Trey?” Pastor said, addressing the Rev. Trey Thompson, pastor of Destination Church of God. 

“Yes,” Pastor Trey said. “Absolutely.” As a child, Trey attended Faith Temple’s children’s church where Juanita taught. 

Pastor Burrows compared Juanita to Dorcas (Acts 9) who was “full of good works and almsdeeds.” When Juanita’s mother, Irene, was in her last days, Juanita visited her. “I think she went about every day. It was built into her personality,” Pastor said.

Juanita cared for her husband during his passing. “I saw her stand by him in every way,” Pastor said. She led Jay in affirming his faith in the Lord. The Pastor and a couple men of the church baptized Jay (very sick at the time) in the couple’s home. They leaned him backward and sprinkled his head with water to symbolize baptism.

“I think Ms. Juanita walks up there with St. Paul,” Pastor said. “I think she ranks up there with him.” Paul said, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith…” (2 Tim. 4).

After deciding to end medical treatment, Juanita told Pastor she was “at peace” with her decision. Looking at him, she said, “But you don’t look like you’re at peace.” 

“She wanted the salvation plan offered at her funeral,” Pastor said. He presented Romans 10:9-10: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

“There’s no promise on the next moment… none,” Pastor said. “It’s not His will that any perish… Come today; do not delay.”

“She understood her race was ending,” Pastor said. “The last time Juanita entered his building, she brought Mother’s Day booklets [to be distributed later]. She’d always done it.” (Though unsteady that Wednesday night, Juanita had driven to church to deliver the booklets.)

Pastor honored those who helped Juanita before her passing: “Dean (brother) and Valarie (sister-in-law) Conner; Ashley (niece); Janette (sister), John Miller (neighbor)… .” He referred to “the caliber of person” Juanita was by God’s grace. “I hope we all go to see her one day. I designate her ‘Saint Juanita.’”

The Faith Temple ministry team sang “What a Day That Will Be,” and Pastor Burrows closed in prayer. Mrs. Martin played “Because He Lives” as the family exited. 

After a graveside gathering, the church served, in Fleming Hall, a meal for Juanita’s extended family.  

 
Obituary:
  Juanita Conner Barnett, 77, of Taylors, South Carolina, died on Thursday, July 6, 2023.
  Born August 31, 1945, in Taylors, South Carolina, Juanita was the daughter of the late John David Conner and Irene Forrester Conner. Juanita was married to the late Jay Barnett for fifty-one years until his death in 2013.
  Juanita’s first job was with the Mac Shore Shirt Company and then she found her “career calling” as a customer service manager at Faith Printing Company in Taylors, South Carolina where she was a valued and faithful employee for forty-six years before her retirement in 2016.
Juanita had an unwavering faith in God and was a servant of Christ through teaching adult and children’s Sunday School, Bible School, and serving in many different roles at Faith Temple Church where she was a member for almost sixty years.
  Juanita is survived by her sister, Janette Fitzgerald of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and brothers, James Conner of Taylors, South Carolina, Dean Conner (Valarie) of Mauldin, South Carolina; sisters-in-law Margie Campbell of Greer, South Carolina, Frances Barnett of Greer, South Carolina and brother-in-law, A. J. Painter of Greer, South Carolina. Surviving also are numerous treasured nieces, nephews, great- nieces, great-nephews, great-great nieces, great-great nephews; and her loving church family at Faith Temple. In addition to her husband and parents, Juanita is preceded in death by five siblings, infant Thalia Irene Conner, Hazel Conner Daniels, Harold Conner, Jesse Conner, and Olin Conner.
  The family will receive friends on Monday, July 10, 2023, from 3 until 3:45 PM at Faith Temple Church, Taylors, South Carolina. A funeral service will follow at 4 PM in the church sanctuary led by her beloved friend and pastor, Rev. Raymond Burrows. Burial will follow at the church cemetery.
  The family will be at their respective homes.
  In lieu of flowers, please make memorial contributions to Faith Temple Church, 5058 Sandy Flat Road, Taylors, SC 29687.
  Online condolences may be made at www.thewoodmortuary.com.