Family and friends are invited to a celebration of life service for Janell Rein that will be held at Holcombe Brothers Funeral Home in Burnsville, NC on September 3, 2020 at 1:00 pm. The burial will follow at Spruce Pine Memorial Cemetery in Spruce Pine, NC. where she will be laid to rest beside her beloved Walter.
Janell, JaJa as she was called, departed our world on Thursday evening, August 27, 2020. She passed away peacefully in her sleep, with no pain, at her place of residence, Elmcroft Assisted Living Facility in Jackson, Tennessee.
She is survived by two daughters: Sarah Margret Claybrook, age 62; and Mary Helen Rhines, age 58: five grandchildren: David A. Claybrook, age 33; Adria S. Claybrook, age 36; Ronnie L. Arnold, age 39; William J. Rhines, age 31; Joshua B. Rhines, age 28: two great-grandchildren: Armani B. Anderson, age 17; and Grayson A. Claybrook, age 2.
Janell as was born on August 24th, 1936 as Sarah Janell Laman to parents Clarence and Sarah Quintella Laman. She grew up on a farm in Alamo, Tennessee where she attended school and graduated high school. She proceeded to attend Lambuth College in Jackson, Tennessee and later graduated. While attending Lambuth, she met Walter Joseph Rein, birthdate March 11, 1935. Walter ( WaWa) was born and raised in Paducah, Kentucky where he attended and graduated high school. They married on March 14, 1957 and remained united for 55 years until Walter’s passing on August 20, 2012.
Throughout her adult life, she and Walter moved many times in Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana. She was an accomplished 1st grade teacher for many years in most of these places. They moved to her hometown, Alamo, TN, in 1981, where they built a beautiful home together. She started in food service at Jackson Madison County Hospital, transferred into the pathology department, and eventually worked her way up to the risk manager. She was an extremely hard worker, self-taught a lot on her own time, and loved a challenge. She was very friendly and always focused on the positive and good in people. She was able to lift people’s spirits by complimenting the good that she saw in them. She touched countless lives in her 84 years of life and made lasting impressions in their minds.
After JaJa and WaWa retired, they bought a home in the mountains of North Carolina and turned it into their dream home. It was located in the Reserve in Burnsville: it was always their dream to retire in the mountains.
Some of the things that JaJa enjoyed doing were gardening; yard work; helping WaWa build stuff; cooking with WaWa; being close to nature; having wiener roast and spending holidays with the family; watching good movies and talent shows on TV; and playing basketball in her younger years.
Janell’s health slowly deteriorated over the years since Walter passed and she moved back to West Tennessee on December 20, 2019 to be close to the family. She had many health issues such as kidney stones, gallstones, thyroid disorder, and COPD. Her last battle was with a bad case of bronchitis coupled with the COPD.
Our JaJa was truly an amazing person and will be missed terribly. Her spirit will live on though….in our hearts.
Holcombe Brothers Funeral Home is respectfully serving the Rein family.
To send an online condolence please visit: www.holcombebrothers.com
