Juanita Pearl Kuykendall-Pillow, 99, of Fontaine, AR, passed away peacefully at St. Bernard’s Medical Center in Jonesboro, AR, on February 25, 2026.

Juanita was born to Scott and Hattie Kuykendall on August 15, 1926. Her father was a sharecropper and her mother was a homemaker. Juanita loved to go to the fields with her father to chop cotton with picking cotton being her favorite. She enjoyed walking everywhere she went, birdwatching, working in the garden, and assisting her mother in canning vegetables and soups for the winter pantry. She attended Shady Grove School, where she played basketball and was an all-county guard. She attended Shady Grove Methodist Church in Fontaine and served on the election board, where she assisted in national, state, and local elections. She worked at the Fontaine Grocery Store where she assisted in stocking the store, assisting customers, and working in the grill where she cooked cheeseburgers for the local farmers during harvest season. She was also a substitute teacher at Greene County Tech Schools. She started working at Rose Care Nursing Center in Jonesboro in 1979, where she earned two Employee of the Year plaques in 1991 and 1999 respectively. She cared for her mother, who was a resident at the facility for ten years, with the same compassion and love she showed for all of the residents under her care. She retired in 2002 after 23 years of service at 76 years old. Juanita was a single mother of five children, whom she devoted her life to raising despite the challenges of poverty and single parenthood. Juanita was a homebody and was happiest at home with her children and their humble surroundings.

She was preceded in death by her parents Scott and Hattie Kuykendall, her three sisters Lucille Gleghorn, Betty Austin, and Clarice Davis, her brother Benny Kuykendall, one daughter Sally (Larry) King Wicker, and son Clinton A. “Bud” Pillow Jr.

She is survived by sister Shelby Wilcockson, brother Scotty Kuykendall, daughters Sophia (Michael “Bud”) Inez Pillow-Gage, Weldon (Daryll) Vanice Pillow-Hampton, and Sandra (Cliff) Kay Pillow-McQuay. Juanita’s selfless efforts of motherhood bore fruit in the form of ten grandchildren: Michael (Renitta) Wicker, Mark Wicker, Cindy (Roger) Wicker Mathias, Larrie (John) Pillow-Johnson, Charity Gage Hahaj, Tracy (Kevin) Gage Aaron, Dustin (Megan) Alexander, Cliff “Trey” (Charity) McQuay III, Hannah (Haden) Loyd, and Caleb (Tierney) McQuay. Juanita was also blessed with nine great-grandchildren: Heaven Howard, Tucker Mathias, Tyler Mathias, Benjamin Hahaj, Samuel Hahaj, Judah Hahaj, Dylan Bond, Dariane Bond, Hattie Alexander, Graham McQuay, Quinn McQuay, Harlow Loyd, and Harris Loyd. She is survived by all of the aforementioned grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at Gregg-Langford Bookout Funeral Home (300 W. Matthews Avenue in Jonesboro, AR) on Saturday, February 28, 2026. Visitation will be from 11am-Noon, with the funeral following at 12pm. She is to be buried in Lorado Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, her family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association