Clarice Juanita Giddens

Posted on June 28, 2024

Clarice Juanita Giddens passed away Tuesday, June 18, 2024, at Westminster Oaks Nursing Home in Tallahassee. She was born in Taylor County on May 20, 1921, to parents Jessie O. Giddens and Essie L. Giddens. Juanita attended school in Taylor County and later took a photography course at Camp Roosevelt near Ocala. The program had been set up by the W.P.A., the University of Florida and the Army Corps of Engineers. After that she returned home to Perry, and during WWII she met and married Charles A. Harnage Sr. Charles had been staying at the old McCray Boarding House on South Jefferson. It was run by her mother, Essie, at the time. Charles and Juanita moved to Daytona Beach, and spent most of their early years there, but they always considered Perry home. Juanita was a person of strong faith and was baptized in 1955 at the First Baptist Church in Perry. In later years, she returned to Perry to help take care of her mother. Eventually she needed help herself and moved to Tallahassee to be with her daughter. She spent the last two years of her life at Westminster Oaks Nursing Home in Tallahassee where she was well taken care of. Juanita was the oldest of Essie’s five children. She had two brothers, Jessie O. Giddens Sr., Major (Retired) U.S. Army, and Clarence J. Giddens Sr., Perry City Clerk for 35 years. She had two sisters, Clara (Giddens) Redmon, JOSURA Black Angus Ranch, Perry, and Sara (Giddens) Prusia, Salt Lake City, Utah. Sadly, they all passed before Juanita. They are now all together again. Juanita leaves behind two children of her own, Charles A. Harnage Jr. (Maggie) and a daughter, Rebecca A. Harnage; a grandson, Martin A. Harnage (Sabina); two great-grandsons, Caiden and Reese Harnage; and several nieces and nephews. There will be a memorial service for family and friends at the First Baptist Church in Perry on Saturday, June 29. There will be a social hour starting at 10 a.m. and then the service at 11 a.m. Brother Stephen Perry will be officiating and her grandson, Martin Harnage, will deliver her eulogy. At noon, there will be a catered lunch for those that would like to attend. Joe P. Burns Funeral Home will be in charge of the arrangements.