Rev. Juanita (Bacon) Wiseman
* Date of Birth: April 28, 1937* Children: Six sons: Brad, Doug, Doug, Brian, Curt and Joe
* Grandchildren: 18.
* Great grandchildren: 6 (and 2 on the way).
Within a month after I graduated from high school, I married my high school sweetheart. From this union I gave birth to two beautiful, healthy sons. My husband deserted us when my first son was two years old and a month before my second son was born. Overnight I became a single parent and vowed to never marry again. My first priority now was to raise my two sons. I got a job, enrolled in school and before I knew it four years had passed since I had started my assent from the bottom of the business world.
In 1964, I remarried, disregarding the vow of forever living a single lifestyle. My sons were six and four years old. Charles E. Wiseman, my second husband, had three sons by a previous marriage. Two + three = 5! In 1970, I gave birth to our sixth son.
In 1993, I began my ministry as a chaplain at St. Joseph Medical Center in Wichita, KS. On June 27, 1993, I was ordained as a Minister of the Word and Sacraments in the Presbyterian Church (USA). In July 1994, I received a call, as a solo pastor, from the First Presbyterian Church in Lakin, KS, where we remained for seven years.
In July 2001 we relocated to our current home in Raton, NM. The slogan "land of enchantment" is authenticated by the people who have lived here and experienced the beauty of New Mexico. Northern New Mexico, where we live, is breathtaking to say the least. That is one of the reasons why we moved here and decided to retire here. Our home is on the side of Bartlett Mesa in the northeast section of Raton (Pinion Acres). One cannot describe the awesome view that we have from our deck looking out over the city and the views of the mountains that we have on both sides of our home. People love to stand on our deck and gaze out over the city (so do we) and beg to walk through the house so they can look out the windows and enjoy the different views of the mountains. I love to hear their sighs and words of joy at what they are seeing. On a clear day we can see Wagon Mound -- 75 miles away. The images that they see change so rapidly with the place of the sun and the clouds moving overhead. I am not kidding you one bit...it is one gorgeous place to live and we are enjoying it to no end.
I took the position of Parish Associate at the First Presbyterian Church in Raton, NM on April 11, 2004.
Other Work History: credit manager, office manager, licensed cosmetologist, etc.
Hobby: Traveling. We've been to Greece, Turkey, Austria, Germany, Mexico, Caribbean and Belize.
December 9, 2006 Update: I have been very sick this past year. I finally checked myself into the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, AZ on June 13 and ended up in the Mayo Hospital in Phoenix on June 17. I was diagnosed with Giant Cell Arteritis (inflammation in the temporal arteries). The inflammation moved into my brain and I lost control of my right side and balance and couldn't walk. I was transported to the Health South Rehab center where I spent 15 days learning how, among other things, to walk again. I was in a wheelchair during that time and so very sick. I came home on a walker and I am now using a cane. The disease narrows one's arteries. My temporal arteries have narrowed and vertebral and subclavian arteries have narrowed, cutting off much of the blood supply to my brain and other parts of my body. The vertebral artery on the right backside of my head is completely blocked with no blood supply to that part of my brain. One of the arteries to my left kidney has narrowed. All this indicates that I have had this disease for several long years. I knew something was wrong for a long time, but the doctors didn't. So, it wasn't diagnosed until the disease reached its peak and I happened on doctors who knew what they were doing. I am really lucky because they told me I would have died if I had waited any longer. I knew I was dying and worked getting my business, will and all other things in order before I left for Scottsdale. A miracle has taken place and I am so very fortunate to still be alive. The prayers of my family and friends and those people I didn't even know have worked. I was so sick at the 2005 reunion that it was hard to function. But I had learned how to do that from being ill with this disease for so long in the past. I am now doctoring with a doctor in Denver who is much closer than the Mayo in Scottsdale. Well so much for that...I hate to even talk about it, but I have now. The only medical treatment for this disease is large doses of Prednisone. At the beginning, I was on 60 mgs. During the last three months, I have been decreasing the dosage by 5 mgs every 2 weeks. I think I will have to increase again because the symptoms have become more intense again with the low dosage.
Merry Christmas - December 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
The month of December has flown by. I am very slow this year and am scrambling to finish all the things I have to do before 2010 begins. There are only four days until Christmas! Wow! Well, you are probably tired of this already. Most of us seem to be in the same boat so I know I have company.
The year has been a good one for me. I have escaped from being in the hospital or undergoing any kind of surgery. Most of my maladies have leveled out some. However, doctor’s appointments, swallowing lots of medications and physical therapy do take up too much of my time. Yet, I am very thankful to be alive and able to do some of the things I like to do. I have joined the ranks of the hard of hearing. I finally broke down and purchased a couple of hearing aids. Love them big time. The auto-immune disease that I have has caused my arteries to narrow and therefore do not receive the right amount of blood flow to various parts of my body. The same goes with my eyes. Chuck’s COPD seems to have leveled out and is much better.
I keep busy with ministry at the church and in the community. Chuck has just finished his six-year service on the Church Session. He continues to keep the pool tables hot at the Senior Center. Like, every afternoon of the week.
On April 4, we celebrated our forty-fifth wedding anniversary. Our children organized and hosted an anniversary reception at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Ks. Many, many people attended. It was unreal, but full of fun. Two weeks later, we received a phone call from one of our sons, Doug Hankins, who lives in Wichita, telling us that his twenty-one year old son (step-son) was in the hospital and dying. We packed our suitcases again, threw them into the car and headed back to Wichita. Danniel died on April 21 and his funeral was on my birthday, April 28. Losing a grandchild through death is one of the worst experiences we have had to endure in a long while. The grief of his parents, Wanda and Doug, his brother, Jay, and sister, Jessica, has been great and not without consequences.
Our trips to Wichita did not end there. We continued to make trips to Wichita throughout the summer because of illnesses and deaths of family and friends – six trips in all. We were tired and ready to stay home for a while. Although I must mention one of those trips was for me to participate in an Ordination service of a young woman, Dawn Flippin, who grew up in the Covenant Presbyterian Church and was a member of the youth group with Joe when they both were just young and ornery kids. She is now serving a church in New Jersey. That trip was a joy.
Joe completed a master‘s degree in Christian Ministry from Friends University and is a certified Lay Pastor. It was a two-year program. He has two more years of seminary to complete in order to become an ordained minister. He has been accepted at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Ok. and will begin his studies in January. Here we go again, another ornery youth group member who grew up in the Covenant Church and now with a family has been called into God’s ministry.
Joe, Tina, Zachary, Charlie, Michael and Libby came for a visit during the Thanksgiving weekend. While they were here, we took a car trip to Eagle Nest and Taos to do some shopping and sightseeing. What fun! Joe and boys will be here again for Christmas.
Our boys are doing fine and working. Praise God for that. We see them when we can. Brad Wiseman and family live on a farm close to Kansas City and he works at Garmin. Delene raises longhorns. Doug Hankins and family live in Wichita and he works at Spirit; Doug Wiseman and family live in Chicago and he works for Bomdardier. Debby works at Macys; Brian Hankins and family live in Wichita and he works for Holtzen Woodworking; Curt Wiseman and family live in Fort Worth and he works for Lockheed; Joe and family are in Wichita and he works at Cessna. Tina runs a day-care. Come and see us.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year