Juanema Isabella (McElhannon) Hitchcock, 95 of Belvedere Commons of Seneca, 515 Benton St, Seneca SC went to be with her Heavenly Father and brothers and sisters in Christ at 3:24 pm, Friday, December 27, 2024, 20 years after her sweet husband of 58 years, Jesse Franklin Hitchcock.
Nema, also known as “Sweet Blue Eyes”, was born on February 13, 1929, in El Paso, Texas, the daughter of Hugh Jacob McElhannon and Cathrine Irene Jenes. She met Frank, her future husband, in Las Cruces, New Mexico before he left for the Philippines during WWII. Upon his return, they reunited and were married on March 11, 1946, in Yuma, Arizona. Frank preceded her in death on October 15, 2004.
She was a charter member of Faith Baptist Church where she served as bookkeeper starting in 1959 for decades and later a member of First Baptist Church in Van Wert. She attended Hepsibah Baptist Church in Seneca, SC where she supported many missionaries over the years and was loved and adored by her family and all who met her. She loved making everyone laugh, aquacise at the YWCA, and having breakfast with friends. She worked at Federal Mogul and the Holiday Inn in Van Wert,  and Weatherhead in Antwerp, Ohio. After Frank retired, they enjoyed traveling and spending time with family, friends, and old army buddies
Family survivors include her two daughters, Darragh Jean (Jon) Geist  and Laura Lee (Joe) Williams; two daughters-in-law Beth (Paul) Hitchcock and Debra (Dwight) Hitchcock, 10 grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren, and 1 great- great grandson.
In addition to her husband and her parents, she was preceded in death by two sons, Paul Allen Hitchcock and Dwight Eugene Hitchcock and son-in-law Joseph Steven Williams, brothers Tommy McElhannon and John D. McElhannon, two sisters JoAnne Heinitz and Rhonda Kay Hillman.
Visitation is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. with service at 2:00 at Cowan & Son Funeral Home on Friday, January 10, 2025. The interment will be at Ridge Cemetery in Ridge Township, Van Wert County, Ohio. Expressions of sympathy may be forwarded at cowanfuneralhome.com, Tribute Wall.