Photo provided by Kathleen Wright.

Our mother Juanita Marian Antich passed away peacefully in her sleep with her family by her side on October 17, 2016 at the age of 87.  

She was born on June 26, 1929 in Corvallis, Oregon to Ernest and Martha McFarland.  Her family moved to Eureka when she was 2 months old. She attend local schools and after graduating from Eureka High School she worked for Pacific Telephone Company while she saved money for College.

She graduated from San Jose State with an AA degree in Costume Design and came back to Eureka to work as a seamstress.

Juanita met the love of her life, William Antich in 1950 and they spent 55 wonderful years together before he passed away in 2005.

Juanita and Bill were married in 1951 and started their family in 1952. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years and was very active as a 4-H leader teaching many young girls how to sew.

When her children were young, she and Bill would take them on a 2 week vacation every summer and as a family they explored almost every inch of Northern California, Oregon and Washington creating many treasured memories for her family that have been talked about for years.

She was an excellent cook and seamstress and had won many blue ribbons at the Humboldt County Fair as well as passing down many wonderful family recipes to her children and grandchildren.

After the birth of her 4th child, she went to work as a bookkeeper for the Northern Humboldt Federal Credit Union and later worked for 22 years for the Humboldt County Treasurer/Tax Collectors Office. She retired in 1992 and she and Bill traveled across the United States in their travel trailer.

In the 1970’s they joined the Orick Boat Club and spent many weekends water skiing with her family and also joined the Bigfoot Good Sams, a local RV Club, and spent weekends camping , playing cards and making many lifelong friends.

Juanita enjoyed traveling, spending time with her family, reading, sewing, many kinds of needle work, including knitting Christmas stockings for her grandchildren, nieces nephews and watching her beloved baseball team the San Francisco Giants. She attended her first and only Giants baseball game at AT&T Stadium at the age of 83.  

She was preceded in death by her parents Ernest and Martha McFarland, her husband Bill, and her brother Jerry McFarland.

She is survived by her four children and their spouses, Judy and Ed Sullivan of Eureka, John and Mandy Antich of Redding, Kathy and Dan Wright of Eureka and Lisa and Don Savio of Scappoose Oregon.  She has eight grandchildren: Nathan, Garth, Erin, Staci, Mike, Eric, Maria and Nick.  She has seven great-grandchildren and one on the way: Chayslin, Cameron, Tyler, Olivia, Maggie, Isabella and Chloe.  She is also survived by her brother and his wife Ted and Earla McFarland, her sister and her husband Karen and Bill Wagner and her sisters-in-law Dorothy Hindley and Irene McFarland. She is also survived by several nieces, nephews and good friends.

The family would like to thank the Nurses and Staff of Granada Rehabilitation Center for taking such wonderful care of our mother.  At Juanita’s request there will be no formal services.  If you would like to donate to charity in her memory her favorites were the local Food Bank, Guide Dogs for the Blind and the American Cancer Society.

There will be a celebration of life for Juanita at a future date when all her family and friends can attend.