Juanita Elmira Johnson was born on September 14, 1936, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was one of
four children born to the union of Thomas Upshaw, Sr and Letha Scott.
Juanita was strong, independent, driven, funny, and had a fierce work ethic. She would share her advice,
offer words of wisdom and encouragement, and would support friends and family in their goals and
creative ideas. Juanita was educated in Philadelphia Public Schools and graduated from South Philly
High School in 1953. She became a mother to Donald Daniels, Jr right after high school.
Juanita, wanting a different life, met and married Paul Jones, Jr, and they moved to Oakland, California
to start their lives together when he accepted an engineer job offer from General Electric. They had two
children; Alexis Paula Jones and Adrian Paul Jones. While he was building his career with GE, Juanita was
pursuing her higher education at California State Hayward. She would graduate with a Bachelor of Arts
in Human Development. She would use that degree and love for children and pursue a position as a
Kindergarten Teacher at Mission Pre-School.
Although her marriage to Paul did not work out, she would go on to transition to start her career with
the State of California and would commute from Sacramento to Hayward for five years until she could
transfer her job to Sacramento. Once settled in Sacramento, she met and married James Johnson.
Juanita was passionate about interior decorating and loved to travel. She also had a unique eye for style
and anyone who knew her always admired her clothes and the way everything she wore was pressed
and creased. She had strong family values and worked hard to take care of her family. She worked
twenty-two years for the State of California in various capacities and retired in 1998 to pursue her
dream of building a custom home in the town her mother was from, Woodbine, Georgia. She took ideas
and keepsakes from her childhood to represent her interior design in her home.
Juanita loved to decorate and enjoyed entertaining. She was extremely active and was an aggressive
advocate in Woodbine. She was the first African American woman to be offered membership to the
Woodbine Women's Club in its over 100 years existence. She is credited with projects that allowed the
community to expand its leadership and municipal impact. She took her California lobbying knowledge
to direct and facilitate business plans, structure member boards and pursue funding to establish a
Farmer's Market, a Waterfront and Park, a Walking Trail, partner with Habitat for Humanity projects,
and many more. Juanita kept the City Council and County Commissioner's Office on their toes! She was
caring, loving, and dedicated to her family life.
If you knew her, you recognized she was a fierce protector of her children and her values. She didn't
play around with taking care of business. She was private and would let you know on certain terms
where she was at on many things.
On January 28, 2024, Juanita answered the Lord's call and went home to be with the Heavenly Father.
She leaves to cherish her memory; her daughter, Alexis Paula Jones, her brother Ronald Upshaw; and
many nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her sons;
Adrian Jones and Donald Daniels; husband James Johnson; her parents Thomas and Letha Upshaw,
brothers; Bernard Upshaw and Thomas Upshaw Jr., and niece and nephews; Debbie Upshaw, Bernard Jr. Upshaw, Danen Upshaw.