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Equitable's Senior of the Month < Back to Archive

Juanema Hinesley

July 2008

"Weathering the Storm"

Wind. Tornados. Disaster. We never thing it will happened to us, but what of it does? What happens when a natural disaster destroys everything you have worked so hard to build? Would you stay optimistic and learn from it, or would you mourn the loss of your personal belongings? Juanema Hinesley used it as a learning experience and has come out of the wind with a fresh take on life and an attitude that is truly inspiring.

Juanema Hinesley was born December 17th, 1938 near Ewing, Missouri. She was the oldest of four children, graduated from high school in Metamora, Illinois and later earned three degrees at Illinois State College at Normal and Mennonite State College of Nursing. When she was 19, her stepfather recommended she take music a class taught by a man he had recently met on a trip to Fairfield Bay, Arkansas. While she learned little about music, she married her teacher, Wendell Hinesley in August 1958. Together they had two daughters – and eight grandchildren.

They love reminiscing about the great times they had when their kids would come down and visit them in Arkansas to swim, ride the four-wheelers, and run around their expansive property. The Hinesley’s had a beautiful home – a home filled with wood furniture that Wendell made himself, pictures, keepsakes and most importantly – memories. Unfortunately, their beautiful home that took 17 years to build was swept away on February 5th, 2008 in less than 17 seconds.

It started out as just another ‘typical’ Arkansas day; Juanema spent the morning cleaning up trash along the nearby highway while Wendell tinkered around the house. A quiet afternoon crept in and not wanting to interrupt the silence, neither of them bothered to turn on the TV or radio. Before they knew it, the blue sky had turned black and the silence was shattered with the sound of a tornado heading straight for their house. Fearing for their spouse, Wendell took shelter outside, while Juanema fled to the closet under their stairs for protection.

After the storm passed, Juanema remembers hearing Wendell calling her and being forced to crawl up the dresser to get out of the now roofless room. The tornado had pulled the second story right off their house and blew the contents of their beautiful home across the Arkansas plains. It’s ironic the trash she picked up that morning was replaced by her belongings that afternoon.

Since the tornado, they have been searching the area, trying to restore what they can and build a new home. Family, friends and members of their church helped as much as possible, but the Hinesley’s have majorly downsized since that ‘typical’ Arkansas day.

Juanema says, “Wedding pictures, children’s pictures, family videos, keepsakes - everything was blown away. Once those things are gone, nothing else really matters. The other day I was counting, we used to have clothes in five closets around the house, because we though someday we would use them. Now we have one closet that we share. We have quit thinking someday - someday may never come. Keep only what you need and live for today. Make life simpler - it’s not the ‘things’ that are important, it’s the memories associated with those ‘things’ that matter.”

Juanema, few can weather the storm and grow from it like you. Your attitude, perseverance and tenacity is an inspiration and we are blessed to have such a remarkable woman in the Equitable family.

ByLine: Hailey Gee - Equitable Resolutions