Juanita Mae Highberger

Juanita Mae Highberger, born Juanita Mae Foster, May 6, 1928 in Independence, Missouri. She died of natural causes, surrounded by her family at home in Sioux City, Iowa Saturday February 13, 2021 at the age of 92.

Cremation rites will be accorded and services will be held at a later date.

At the age of six, her family relocated to Hammond, Indiana. Northwest Indiana became her lifelong home until retiring to Saint Petersburg, Florida and Sioux City, Iowa in 2010.

Mom attended Irving School and Hammond (Indiana) High School, graduating in 1946.

Following high school, she attended Indiana University, first in Hammond before transferring to the Main Campus in Bloomington, Indiana. At IU she was an education major who also earned a spot as a Majorette in the Marching Hundred. As part of the Greatest Generation, her classmates included others that were first in their families to attend college.

On February 14, 1953, she wed John W. “Jack” Highberger who preceded her in death, October 1, 2003.

The family settled in Chesterton, Indiana in 1961.

 Juanita volunteered frequently at St. Patrick’s School and Church. She found time to play Bridge and was active in the local Republican Women’s Club.

In August 1971, her nine children were spread over the K-12 school system. Juanita found a job at Liberty Middle School, working alongside children and positively influencing the lives of many students until her retirement in June 1995.

Upon retirement in 1995, she cared for her mother, Marguerite Foster until her death in 1998.

In 2001, she moved to St. Petersburg, Florida living near her youngest son, William and youngest daughter, Mary. In St. Pete, she embraced the sunshine and doted on her four Florida grandsons.

Juanita enjoyed all Chicago has to offer and was particularly fond of the Cubs, the Bulls and Bears.

She is survived by brother Glenn (Nancy) Foster, Puryear, TN, her nine children: Stephen of Portage, Indiana, Richard (Rose) of Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, Susan (Robert) Schoenherr of Sioux City, Thomas of Houston, TX, Kathy  (Brantley) Echols of Atlanta, GA, William of St. Petersburg, FL, Anne (David) Prokusky of Michigan City, Indiana, Judy Romano of Oak Park, IL and Mary (Rich) Williams of St. Petersburg, Florida, 23 grandchildren and 11 Great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and an older sister Laura Lee Donnelly.

Memorial contributions may be made in Juanita's name to Pleasant View Care Center in Whiting, Iowa.