Juanita Cora Ledford Brown Bolton

Juanita Cora Ledford Brown Bolton
March 12th, 1925 - July 21st, 2023

Juanita was born to Cora McCamment and Ewell V. Ledford at St. Joseph Hospital in Vancouver, WA on March 12, 1925.
She was the 5th daughter of the Ledford family of six girls.
Juanita was born on her sister, June’s sixth birthday. They had a lifelong bond.
She grew up in Woodland, WA until the family moved to Tacoma in 1935.
Juanita was salutatorian of the 1943 class at Clover Park High School.
She attended the University of Puget Sound.
A true Rosie the Riveter of WWII, she helped build the war ships at Tacoma Boatyards. Her small, flexible build and great focus on detail made her perfect at crawling between the hull walls of the destroyers and tacking the metal.
While working at the PX at Ft. Lewis she met the love of her life, Robert E. Brown. They married in June, 1946.
Together with Robert’s parents they founded and built the mill complex of Brown Lumber Co. in Brookings, OR. Their home was on the same plot of land as the sawmill. There they raised their four children: Linda Ann Brown (deceased), Susan Marie Lee (Bob), Debra Jean Stangland (Ken), and Robert Arthur Brown (Pat).
They eventually moved to North Bend, OR, where Robert died of cancer in 1991.
In 1997 she married Sterling Bolton. Together they built a home in Redmond, OR, where Juanita was an active member of the Garden Club and TOPS. Sterling died in 2004.
Juanita enjoyed sewing, playing cards and spending time with her friends.
She loved her family. Juanita never forgot any of her seven Grandchildren and eight Great Grandchildren's birthdays and was actively interested in their lives. She will be deeply missed.
Juanita passed away surrounded by family in Walla Walla, WA on July 21st, 2023.

A Celebration of Life service will be held Saturday, August 5th 11am at Restlawn Memory Gardens & Funeral Home, 201 Oak Grove Rd NW, Salem, OR.