Juanita Hunt Avinger

Juanita Hunt Avinger, 97 of Abilene, passed away at a local care center on Thursday, March 23, 2017.  A service is scheduled for 1:00 PM, Tuesday March 28th, 2017 in the Chapel at Piersall Funeral Directors, 733 Butternut St.  A visitation with the family will be held on Monday from 4:00-5:30 PM at the funeral home.

Juanita Hunt Avinger was born in Brownwood, Texas on January 4, 1920 to Ben and Laura Hunt. She was raised outside of Brownwood and graduated from Early High School. After graduation she attended Daniel Baker College and in August of 1939 she married a recent graduate of Howard Payne University, Herschel Avinger. Juanita had a love of education that led her to spend years both teaching and learning. She received her B.Ed and M.Ed degrees from Texas Tech and did Post Graduate work at OSU and UT before receiving her Ed.D in reading from Baylor University.

The first part of Juanita’s career was spent in public education, teaching 11 years in Lubbock ISD, but the majority of her career was spent working in the Education Department at ACU. In 1971 Juanita was awarded “Teacher of the Year” by the Board of Trustees at ACU, she was listed in the Who’s Who in American Education and she was a member of: Phi Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi; Kappa Delta Pi and Delta Kappa Gamma. In addition to her work teaching future teachers, Juanita worked as a consultant for the Texas Education Agency, Ginn Publishing Company, as well as many Texas School Districts.

Juanita was also known for extraordinary cooking talent, her specialty being red Jell-O containing fruit cocktail. She was also renowned as a feared opponent and prized partner in 88 and bridge.

Juanita was an active member of University Church of Christ and had many friends that she developed through the years at Christian Village and University Place. Surviving Juanita are her sons; James Avinger and wife Cindy of Kona, HI and John Avinger of Seattle, WA, a sister Nelda Holland of Dallas, her sister in spirit Sammie Hill and five grandchildren: Elias, Jason, Shawna, Eric and Julie. She was preceded in death by her husband, her parents, four sisters and a brother.

In Lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the Christian Service Center, www.csc abilene .org . Condolences may be offered to the family online at www.pbfuneraldirectors.com.