Eunice Kimbrough Juniel

Reverend Eunice Kimbrough Juniel of Gulfport, Mississippi, passed peacefully into eternal rest on October 2, 2025, at the age of 94. A devoted mother, educator, minister, singer, author, and spiritual guide, Eunice lived her life in service to God and to others, leaving behind a legacy of faith, learning, and love.

Born on September 12, 1931, in Magnolia, Alabama, Eunice was the daughter of Emma Lee Jenkins and Ira Walter Dunning. Her mother later married Joseph Kimbrough, who had four children of his own: three boys and one girl, including a set of twins. Together, Emma and Joseph built a blended family of eleven children, adding five girls and one boy of their own. From the age of three, Eunice affectionately became “Mother’s little helper,” a title that perfectly captured her caring spirit and natural instinct to nurture others. That devotion to family, faith, and service became the foundation of her life’s work.

Eunice attended public schools in Marengo County and graduated from Marengo High School at just seventeen years old. After completing one year at Alabama State College, she left the South when her uncle—her mother’s brother—sent her the money to move to Arizona. She often said that kind, loving gesture changed the course of her life forever. While in Arizona, she met and married John H. Juniel, the man who would become her partner of many years and help to guide and nurture their four children: Jose, Cheryl, Michael, and Kathleen. The young couple later settled in Southern California, where they raised and educated their family, including a host of foster children.

As a mother, Eunice was determined to lead by example. While her children were still in school, she decided to return to the classroom herself, attending night school daily. “Once I started back,” she would say, “I became unstoppable.” Night after night and year after year, she pursued her education eventually earning her Associate of Arts degree from Los Angeles City College, followed by a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and a Master of Arts degree in Education (with a focus in Urban Education) from California State University, Los Angeles, where she was also a member of the honor society. Eunice went on to obtain teaching credentials in administration, regular and special education, adult education, and English as a Second Language (ESL).

As an educator, Eunice taught both elementary and secondary school before becoming a Resource Specialist, working with educationally handicapped students by day and teaching adult and ESL students at night. Her patience, empathy, and creativity transformed the lives of her students, many of whom she continued to mentor long after they left her classroom. A lifelong learner herself, she credited her educational drive to her deep curiosity about people and the world. Beyond her career as an educator, she was also a business and property owner and also helped to build John’s plumbing business.

Music was another of Eunice’s great passions. She studied voice, sang at several churches, and performed with the West Los Angeles College Choir and the Gwynn Wyatt Chorale, touring internationally. Her rich, soulful voice inspired congregations and audiences alike. She studied songwriting, wrote original music, and even took up guitar, laughing that her fingers were “too short” but loving the instrument all the same. She could read music and performed as a soloist throughout her life. Eunice also joined the sorority Psi Gamma Mu, where she served as a mentor and “big sister” to her fellow sorors.

While still teaching, Eunice felt the unmistakable call to ministry. She entered a ministerial training program in Los Angeles, and upon completion, was ordained as a minister. She served on the staff of two churches and launched her radio ministry, “Patterns for Living,” where she counseled people from all walks of life. Eunice later earned a Ph.D. in Metaphysics and an advanced degree in Pastoral Counseling from the University of Metaphysics. She became a certified Reiki Master, holistic spiritual healing practitioner, and trained hypnotherapist, integrating her passion for education and spirituality into a ministry that healed both hearts and minds.

After eighteen years of teaching, she finally retired and was recognized in Who’s Who in American Women, Who’s Who in the West, Who’s Who in California, and the Who’s Who Historical Society—accolades she accepted with humility, gratitude, and quiet pride. Eunice then moved to Colorado, where she joined a church staff and founded her own ministry, The Universal Truth Foundation, continuing her work in radio. Later, she relocated to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to be near family.

In Mississippi, she was invited by a Unity Faith study group to serve as their spiritual leader. After her ordination as a Unity Minister, Eunice led the group in establishing the first-ever Unity Church on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a milestone that she often described as one of the most blessed times of her life. After completing that mission, she was guided by the Higher Power to pass the torch to new leadership. She later led another congregation for two years, describing it as “a deeply rewarding experience.”

Eunice also co-founded a tutoring service with her oldest daughter, Cheryl Juniel, helping academically and emotionally challenged learners build self-confidence and life skills. “Education,” she often said, “is not just about books—it’s about believing in yourself.” She later taught Defensive Driving for AARP, humorously noting that “senior drivers need all the help that they can get.” At the age of 89, she voluntarily turned over her own car keys to Cheryl, saying it was time to let God take the wheel.

In her later years, Eunice continued to share her wisdom through writing, publishing her book “Dear God, It’s Me, Eunice,” a heartfelt collection of letters drawn from lessons learned through faith and perseverance. In it, she wrote, “[w]e have a powerful source within us, and we can use it.” Her spiritual journey continued into her nineties as she joined Eckankar, a non-affiliated, independent spiritual movement. She cherished its “thought challenges” and the way it deepened her personal connection to the divine. She and Cheryl shared a peaceful home in Gulfport, Mississippi, where they created a life of mutual love, security, and gratitude. Each day, she thanked God for their blessings— “for our roof, our peace, and our purpose,” she would say.

Eunice was preceded in death by her maternal grandparents, Richard Jenkins and Nora Jenkins, and her paternal grandparents, Willis Dunning and Delia Dunning, all of Alabama; her parents, Emma Lee Jenkins and Ira Walter Dunning; and her stepparents, Joseph Kimbrough and Mattie Dunning. She was also preceded in death by her Kimbrough siblings, Mary Alice, Elois, Elizabeth, and Joseph Jr.; her Dunning sibling, Doris; her Kimbrough stepbrothers and stepsister, Cannie, James, Jannie, and Cecil; her former husband, John H. Juniel; and her son-in-law, Richard Parnell.

She is survived by her beloved sisters, Safornia Watkins and her husband, James Watkins, and Emma Jean Crosby and her husband, Alphonso Crosby, of Mississippi, and Veronica Dunning Motamad of New York. Eunice is also survived by her four children: Jose Juniel and his wife, Linda Mann Juniel, of Indiana, Cheryl Juniel of Mississippi, Michael Juniel of California, and Kathleen Juniel Parnell of California; and her cherished grandchildren: Jason Parnell of California, Jordan Juniel of Indiana, Gregory Parnell of California, and Joshua Juniel and his wife, Mady Juniel, of South Carolina. Eunice leaves behind a host of loving nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and spiritual children whose lives she touched and foreover transformed, immensely.

Eunice was a woman of extraordinary depth and radiant joy. She was a devoted mother, a guiding light to her students and congregations, and a true emissary of God’s love on earth. Her laughter was contagious, her smile luminous, and her voice—both spoken and sung—carried comfort, conviction, and grace. She enjoyed vibrant health well into her nineties and lived every day with gratitude and purpose. She had a rare gift for taking complex truths and making them simple, human, and full of hope.

Her guiding philosophy was clear: “[i]f I can help even one person, I have done my job.” And she did, a thousands of times over.

Our hearts have more sunshine than before, because in life, Eunice’s footsteps came our way.

Visitation will be Saturday, October 11, 2025, from 12:00 until 12:30 p.m. followed by a service from 12:30 until 2:00 p.m. at the O'Neal Road location of Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home, 15452 O'Neal Road, Gulfport, MS 39503.

Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home, O'Neal Road, Gulfport, is honored to serve the family of Eunice Kimbrough Juniel.