Remembrances of the late Janice Rainey
This story about the short life of Janice Rainey was written
by Betty Pritchard of Yuma, close friend of Janice. The article
was published in the Carroll County Democrat newspaper. I am
not sure about the the date it was published but assume it would
have been published soon after Janice's death.
"The Last Game"
I guess the first time I remember Janis Rainey was before she had started to
school; she was
a little blond girl in slacks. Her grandmother who couldn't see very well,
used to get Janis
and me confused. Janis lived near me and we were friends and played
together. Janice
always had a lot of friends because she was so likeable and fun-loving. I
attended her sixth
birthday party and she was so thrilled over the cake and her presents. She
was bright
and learned easily in school, which made her one of the top students in every
class.
When we were in the third grade, we used to play softball with the older kids,
of course, someone
usually took our last strikes. Janis loved sports, or anything that had
fun and a lot of action
to it. That same year in school, we used to check our papers together; we
later learned that
this was wrong.
The year Janis was in the sixth grade the teacher of the
school was persuaded to organize
a basketball team. Janis loved to play and played on the team. She
was small and left
handed, but could run circles around the bigger girls; she was deadly with the
set shot. We
continued school having a lot of fun playing softball and basketball, and
sometimes
kick-the-can at different houses at night. Sometimes we would go
swimming in the
creek nearby.
In our eighth year at school, we all practiced basketball every spare moment on
the out-door
court. Janis would try to get to school early before the bell rang and
oftentimes stay late
to practice basketball outside. But usually after school, Janis would go
home to do work
for her mother who worked. That same year we were fortunate enough
to reach the finals
in the tournament. Janis was captain of our team and she accepted our
trophy and also
"The Best Sportsmanship Award" for the girls. I think she was very happy
that night. In spring
of that year she was graduated from Yuma Elementary School. It was along
about this time that
she learned to drive. She loved to drive.
When she entered high school at Clarksburg, she made a lot of new friends.
Anyone who really knew
her, loved her. Among the things she loved best were life and people.
She played basketball at
Clarksburg and developed into one of the finest forwards in the state. I
remember one night
when we were sophomores and were having terrible weather, one of the other Yuma
players
suggested not going to the game that night, but Janis said she wanted to go and
play ball. She was
a leader and an honor student in high school.
I don't know of anyone I had rather played ball with than
Janis. When you passed the ball off to her,
you could almost count on two points. I remember in a game in our junior
year against
Trezevant; we were behind nine points with three minutes on the clock.
We went ahead to beat them
five points with a tremendous effort from Janis. She was a kind of "Babe
Ruth" to basketball.
Training rules were made to be broken, but she still played perfectly and was in
the best condition.
When we were playing a very tense and decisive game at the end of the regular
season, Janis
had failed to score much; our coach asked her what was wrong. To this she
replied, "I can't see the
goal for the fat lady". But she did see the goal and we won by a
narrow margin. Janis never took
anything too seriously. That same year we were so unfortunate as to draw
Grove in both
our tournaments. I asked her what she thought about it and she said, "I
think it's very exciting".
She always played her game hard and never gave up. When defeated,
she took it well and
offered no excuses. That year she received much-needed recognition
for her outstanding
basketball ability. Janis got a lot of compliments on her ball playing,
but she was very
sweet and untouched by all of it. It was so much fun just being in the
same classes
with her during all the years. With her easy-going attitude, she
would always brighten
up the classroom. She was president of our class for two years and we went
on the
senior trip together. I know she had an enjoyable time even though she got
a little
homesick for home.
I didn't get to see Janis much during the summer vacation and in the fall she
started
to the university. We saw each other occasionally afterwards and
talked about
college a lot. Sometimes Janis seemed to be a little discouraged in school
work,
but she didn't let it get her down; she stayed right in there giving it all she
had.
College went on for both of us and February of the next
year, I was delighted to learn
that Yuma was sponsoring an old-fashioned "bloomer basketball game" to raise
money
for the P.T.A. I didn't know if Janis would be able to make it for the
game or not,
because she had said she would be taking Saturday classes that quarter.
But Janis
did come home, especially to play ball. It didn't take her long before she
had on the old-
fashioned "bloomers" and was laughing it up. I guess that was one game
Yuma
will never forget, because the next day Janis and Rachel had the accident
that proved fatal for Janis.
I would always like to remember Janis as she was that night. I had heard
it said that
students in college looked prettier; Janis looked so pretty that night.
Besides
playing basketball, she was laughing and talking to all her friends; she
refereed the boys' game and helped in the other activities. I know
she was
thrilled to get to play ball. The other team led about three seconds
before the
game was over, then Janis made the winning decisive point. If I could see
Janis now, I would like to say "nice game".
In memory of a school mate, Janis Rainey by Betty Pritchard.
Send
e-mail to: jtm@clarksburgtn.com