Juanita Marie (McKenzie) Pleinis

October 4, 1940 – July 10, 2021

Juanita Marie (McKenzie) Pleinis, 80, a resident of Moses Lake, Washington, passed away Sunday, June 6, 2021, at Lakeridge Nursing Home in Moses Lake, surrounded by loving family. Graveside services will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, July 10, 2021, at the Angel Columbarium in Guarding Angels Cemetery, 2595 Road L NE, Moses Lake, Washington. Please sign the online guestbook or leave a note for the family at www.kayserschapel.com. Arrangements are in care of grandson Aaron C. Buche.

Juanita was born on Oct. 4, 1940, to Polly Anna May and Clyde James McKenzie in Boise, Idaho, and graduated high school and beauty school in Clackamas, Oregon. In 1960, she married her loving husband, Marvin Leroy Pleinis. They had two children, Myra Jean and Jason Alan. Marvin and Juanita moved their family to Moses Lake in 1976 where, together with sister Roberta and brother in-law John Bottem, they owned and operated two local grocery stores, Boyle’s Plaza and J & M Family Grocery. She later went to work for Carnation and retired from Walmart. Upon retirement, Nita and Marv became snowbirds and spent their winters with family and good friends in Yuma, Arizona.

She enjoyed learning photography and computers and through the “dot com” era, and could always be found exploring genealogy. They often fed wild animals and loved spending time with family and friends. Marvin and Juanita spent their summers in their Moses Lake home close to their kids, grandkids and great-grandkids.

Juanita leaves behind her mother Polly Anna Fee; three sisters Bonita Kleinberg, Mona McIlvenna and Roberta Bottem; daughter Myra Jean Buche and her children Kimberly, Jacob and Aaron; son Jason Alan Pleinis and his children Nichole and Alyssa; and several beautiful great-grandchildren. Besides her father, she was preceded in death by one brother, William “Bill” Clyde McKenzie, and her husband, Marvin Leroy Pleinis (July 27, 1937 – Sept. 2, 2013).