Happy 93rd Birthday
Juanita Stockstill, Santa Clarita Valley (Newhall) resident, celebrated her 93rd birthday on May 20, 2017. Juanita was born in San Jose, New Mexico the third of eight children. In her childhood, she enjoyed riding horses and singing. She especially liked to sing at school and in church.
During WW2, striving to help the war effort through the N.Y.A., she became a Journeyman welder at a Navy shipyard on Bainbridge Island in Seattle, WA. While in Washington, she met her husband, Billy Stockstill, at a 1944 New Year’s Eve party. Billy was a Marine who had served in the Pacific theater and was wounded at the Battle of Tarawa.
Billy and Juanita were married on March 23, 1946 and had two children together, Hedy and Patrick. They raised their family in southern California where Billy worked as a steam engineer for the Borax Company and Juanita worked as an operator for the phone company. Juanita was fond of her time with the phone company as it was a good fit for her social personality.
When Billy passed away in November 2006, Juanita moved from their home in Wilmington, CA to Santa Clarita. Juanita enjoys seeing her extended family more often since she is now living closer to many of her: 4 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren.
Juanita is pictured here with 5 generations of women in her family; a milestone to which she and her family feel extremely blessed to have experienced.
Juanita feels very fortunate to be able to spend time with her growing family, still attends Mass on Sundays, and meets new people around town.