Juanita Lautner

CEDAR - Juanita L. Lautner, 91, of Cedar passed away peacefully on Friday, October 26th. Juanita was born on November 21, 1926 in Houston, Texas to the late Fred and Freda (Bergmann) Clutterbuck. The Clutterbuck family returned to the Traverse City area when she was five. On June 20, 1946 Juanita married the love of her life and best friend, Howard L. Lautner, in Traverse City. The couple celebrated 50 years of marriage before Howard’s passing in 1996. During their many years together they had five children: John, Jane, Judith, Jeffrey and Jan. Juanita found years of joy as a homemaker taking care of her children on the couple’s farm in Cedar. Jan remembers standing on his mom’s feet and dancing around the kitchen together like there was no tomorrow! Jeff would make her day singing “oh my momma loves me, she loves me like a rock”. She would anxiously await letters from her oldest, John, when he was deployed to Vietnam. She could always count on Jane to be the “mom figure” when mom couldn’t be around. Juanita always claimed she couldn’t nap during the day, but Judy can assure everyone her mom was a very talented day sleeper! Along with raising her children, she was also employed part time at JC Penney, until she found her passion in real estate. She earned her realtor’s license and had a successful career co-owning Traverse City Realty. After the sale of TCR she worked for other realty offices in the area until easing into full retirement. In her spare time, Juanita was an avid seamstress, making her own clothes and quilting. She also enjoyed crossword puzzles, found great joy in volunteer work and being an active member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church for over 50 years. She will be remembered by many for her generosity, friendliness, and practicality. She made her grandchildren promise her that she would be wearing socks when she passed... “Grandma, we kept our promise, your socks are on.” Those left to honor her memory include her five children: John (Marilyn) Lautner of Wichita Falls, TX, Jane Passmore and Judy (Greg) Sedlacek all of Traverse City, Jeff (Darlene) Lautner, of Cedar, and Jan (Gaylee) Lautner of Swansea, IL; six grandchildren: Tricia (Chris) Lewis of Pflugerville, TX, Kirsten (Ty) Walker of Chandler, AZ, Robert (Lynnette) Passmore of Mt. Pleasant, MI, Justin (Katie) Passmore of Rogers, MN, Erin Sedlacek of Traverse City and Sarah Lautner of Cedar; eight great-grandchildren, two step grandchildren, Marsha (David) Branson of Danville, IN and Michael Prater of Rock, MI, four step great-grandchildren, one step great-great-grandchild,a sister-in-law, Hazel Lautner of Cedar, and manyt nieces and nephews. Preceding her in death were her husband, her parents, two brothers Horace and Fred Clutterbuck, and two sisters Jeannette Pahl and Doris Solis. A memorial service will take place on Friday, November 9th, 2018 at 11:00 a.m., with a visitation held one hour prior, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Traverse City. The family requests memorials be directed to Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 1050 Peninsula Drive, Traverse City, MI 49686 Please visit www.reynolds-jonkhoff.com to share your memories with the family on Juanita’s tribute page. The family is being cared for and served by the Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home and Cremation Services.

Juanita Lautner

November 21, 1926 - October 26, 2018