Jane and I were in 1st grade together at Sedge Garden Elementary, and we remained friends even though she transferred to Kernersville. I always looked forward to going to her house - She had 3 sisters and the most wonderful parents! She lived in a big two story house with a laundry chute that went from the upstairs floors into the basement. She also had a Siamese cat named Manchu - we'd stick him in the laundry chute and send him into the clothes basket in the basement - we'd run downstairs and get him, and do it all over again! Of course he'd get us back by jumping out from under a chair and biting our ankles. I remember at one of her birthday parties, we were playing a game where you had to keep a feather in the air - blowing it from one person to another - Donna S. sucked it down her throat - it was really funny , of course unless you were Donna! When we were 13, Jane had her leg taken off due to bone cancer, but died soon after that. There are so many good memories of her and her family-
Chery - I enjoyed reading your post......Jane's sweet mother died a couple of months ago, and I saw Donna Sides at the funeral home. She shared the story about the birthday party and the feather-blowing.
As far as that 'darn cat'...I was afraid of him -- have never liked cats, and grew to dislike them even more after he bit me!
Donna Jeffries and I saw Ruth, Sue and Jo at Mrs. Sherrill's service. It was a somber occasion, but enabled us all to share our memories of Jane. It's hard to believe she has been gone so many years
Jane became a friend of mine when we were in 4th grade at Kernersville Elementary. She and her sisters took piano lessons from my Mom, and we became good friends. I too remember her big house and all the cool things (like the laundry chute!) and the chalkboard in the basement. I also remember the great swing set she had in her backyard that her Father had made for them. I remember many meals of hamburgers for dinner, and pancakes for breakfast. I got farmed out to the Sherrills many times when my Mother was going through open heart surgery (not such an easy feat in those days) and remember so well the love I felt from her whole family. I LOVED to stay there. I have often wondered what kind of friends we would be today, had she lived, and I know she would still be one of my closest and dearest friends. She was sooooo fun loving! I have missed her, and will always keep her in my heart.
Added by Sue Sherrill Moore Being Jane's older sister, Sue,I remember so many wild things about her. She loved to put ice down our backs after Sunday dinner. Not only did she put it down, but she would HOLD it there in the back of your shirt. I always screamed and swatted her away but Daddy tried to ignore her so she would find no fun in it. She would not quit with him unless I ran her off, which I always did. She loved to put a rubber band around any of our cats' tails. Man, did that drive them crazy! Once when Mother put her in her room for punishment she packed her bag and went out the window. One day, unbeknown to Mother,when she was about to spank Jane for some reason, Jane somehow put a heavy Melmac plate into the back-side of her corduroys. Mother hauled off and almost broke her hand. Boy, the feathers flew that day!!! We all got up daily at about 5'ish in the summers to pick dewberries for money for our vacation, all but Jane. We grew tired of her not helping and Ruth and I picked all the rotten berries we could find, lured her to the field, threw her down and smeared her all over. Semi-permanent, they were. :) Jane was a trip and a half!!!She got an Easy Bake Oven and a Chemistry set one Christmas and tried to cook up her chemicals, hoping for an explosion. I remember that Jane's eyes were blue with a yellow rim around the pupils. She had such a splash of freckles. Man, did I love that little mischievous character!!! When she was put in the hospital to have her leg removed (Cancer), she told us that all she wanted was to have her cat, Manchu, come to see her one last time.Our Rule-Following Father took a suitcase, bored holes in it, and took Manchu to the hospital. As he got into the elevator two interns also stepped in at the last minute. Manchu let out many a Siamese howl and the two interns looked at each other. Daddy never turned his head,he just got off on her floor and took the cat in. She was thrilled! She played and played with him until time to go to surgery and then Daddy put him back in the suitcase and was on his way out when the fellows putting her on the stretcher went, "Oh, my gosh, where did all these tiny hairs come from?" Daddy just kept walking. She had quite the sense of humor. When so many strangers continued to ask about how she lost her leg, she took to telling anyone who asked that she lost her leg in VietNam. That shut them up, I have to say!! Jane was smart as a whip, with a tremendously high IQ. In second grade, her teacher went to the restroom and when she came out, Jane was gone. She was UNDER the teacher's desk. A note came home about that one. That teacher was less than thrilled, to say the least. We had a set of old-timey pupil chairs in the basement that went with our blackboard Daddy made us. It was HUGE! We have a recording somewhere of her forcing neighborhood children into submission as she force-taught them. They would learn or else. They also had a neighborhood club in which Jane was the president, of course...probably self-proclaimed!! Once, when someone was laying on the floor in the living room and would not stop talking,even when begged,Jane just calmly walked over and sat on her head. So much for talk!! She loved to take my dolls and write all over them or pull out their hair. I was mad as blue blazes. When I went to one of the proms she hid in the bushes, I think with Jo, and giggled and giggled and made little kissie sounds. The joys of being the older sister abounded that day. One day, when she was quite young, she told Mother that she and Jo were playing "Having a Baby." Mother asked her how on earth she knew how to play that and she said she looked it all up in the encyclopedia. She was 5, I think. Having said all of that, I must say that I loved her dearly! She had wonderful friends, Donna, Cheryl, Erma, etc., a twinkle in her eye that never stopped, and such a bubbly laugh. She called once in the middle of the night and I went on over to the hospital where she was, and all she wanted to do was tell me that she loved me. She added joy to our house, a twisted sense of humor, and a zest for life. Hers ended so quickly. Somehow I can just imagine her in heaven looking for rubber bands and cats, putting ice down the Saints backs, and just in general being a joy to Christ. We think of her often and will always miss her!!!
Cheryl Reid (Wray)
Jane and I were in 1st grade together at Sedge Garden Elementary, and we remained friends even though she transferred to Kernersville. I always looked forward to going to her house - She had 3 sisters and the most wonderful parents! She lived in a big two story house with a laundry chute that went from the upstairs floors into the basement. She also had a Siamese cat named Manchu - we'd stick him in the laundry chute and send him into the clothes basket in the basement - we'd run downstairs and get him, and do it all over again! Of course he'd get us back by jumping out from under a chair and biting our ankles. I remember at one of her birthday parties, we were playing a game where you had to keep a feather in the air - blowing it from one person to another - Donna S. sucked it down her throat - it was really funny , of course unless you were Donna! When we were 13, Jane had her leg taken off due to bone cancer, but died soon after that. There are so many good memories of her and her family-Irma Wilson (Comer)
Chery - I enjoyed reading your post......Jane's sweet mother died a couple of months ago, and I saw Donna Sides at the funeral home. She shared the story about the birthday party and the feather-blowing.As far as that 'darn cat'...I was afraid of him -- have never liked cats, and grew to dislike them even more after he bit me!
Donna Jeffries and I saw Ruth, Sue and Jo at Mrs. Sherrill's service. It was a somber occasion, but enabled us all to share our memories of Jane. It's hard to believe she has been gone so many years
Donna Jeffries (Thomas)
Jane became a friend of mine when we were in 4th grade at Kernersville Elementary. She and her sisters took piano lessons from my Mom, and we became good friends. I too remember her big house and all the cool things (like the laundry chute!) and the chalkboard in the basement. I also remember the great swing set she had in her backyard that her Father had made for them. I remember many meals of hamburgers for dinner, and pancakes for breakfast. I got farmed out to the Sherrills many times when my Mother was going through open heart surgery (not such an easy feat in those days) and remember so well the love I felt from her whole family. I LOVED to stay there. I have often wondered what kind of friends we would be today, had she lived, and I know she would still be one of my closest and dearest friends. She was sooooo fun loving! I have missed her, and will always keep her in my heart.Donna Jeffries (Thomas)
Added by Sue Sherrill MooreBeing Jane's older sister, Sue,I remember so many wild things about her. She loved to put ice down our backs after Sunday dinner. Not only did she put it down, but she would HOLD it there in the back of your shirt. I always screamed and swatted her away but Daddy tried to ignore her so she would find no fun in it. She would not quit with him unless I ran her off, which I always did. She loved to put a rubber band around any of our cats' tails. Man, did that drive them crazy! Once when Mother put her in her room for punishment she packed her bag and went out the window. One day, unbeknown to Mother,when she was about to spank Jane for some reason, Jane somehow put a heavy Melmac plate into the back-side of her corduroys. Mother hauled off and almost broke her hand. Boy, the feathers flew that day!!!
We all got up daily at about 5'ish in the summers to pick dewberries for money for our vacation, all but Jane. We grew tired of her not helping and Ruth and I picked all the rotten berries we could find, lured her to the field, threw her down and smeared her all over. Semi-permanent, they were. :) Jane was a trip and a half!!!She got an Easy Bake Oven and a Chemistry set one Christmas and tried to cook up her chemicals, hoping for an explosion.
I remember that Jane's eyes were blue with a yellow rim around the pupils. She had such a splash of freckles. Man, did I love that little mischievous character!!!
When she was put in the hospital to have her leg removed (Cancer), she told us that all she wanted was to have her cat, Manchu, come to see her one last time.Our Rule-Following Father took a suitcase, bored holes in it, and took Manchu to the hospital. As he got into the elevator two interns also stepped in at the last minute. Manchu let out many a Siamese howl and the two interns looked at each other. Daddy never turned his head,he just got off on her floor and took the cat in. She was thrilled! She played and played with him until time to go to surgery and then Daddy put him back in the suitcase and was on his way out when the fellows putting her on the stretcher went, "Oh, my gosh, where did all these tiny hairs come from?" Daddy just kept walking.
She had quite the sense of humor. When so many strangers continued to ask about how she lost her leg, she took to telling anyone who asked that she lost her leg in VietNam. That shut them up, I have to say!!
Jane was smart as a whip, with a tremendously high IQ. In second grade, her teacher went to the restroom and when she came out, Jane was gone. She was UNDER the teacher's desk. A note came home about that one. That teacher was less than thrilled, to say the least.
We had a set of old-timey pupil chairs in the basement that went with our blackboard Daddy made us. It was HUGE! We have a recording somewhere of her forcing neighborhood children into submission as she force-taught them. They would learn or else. They also had a neighborhood club in which Jane was the president, of course...probably self-proclaimed!!
Once, when someone was laying on the floor in the living room and would not stop talking,even when begged,Jane just calmly walked over and sat on her head. So much for talk!!
She loved to take my dolls and write all over them or pull out their hair. I was mad as blue blazes.
When I went to one of the proms she hid in the bushes, I think with Jo, and giggled and giggled and made little kissie sounds. The joys of being the older sister abounded that day.
One day, when she was quite young, she told Mother that she and Jo were playing "Having a Baby." Mother asked her how on earth she knew how to play that and she said she looked it all up in the encyclopedia. She was 5, I think.
Having said all of that, I must say that I loved her dearly! She had wonderful friends, Donna, Cheryl, Erma, etc., a twinkle in her eye that never stopped, and such a bubbly laugh. She called once in the middle of the night and I went on over to the hospital where she was, and all she wanted to do was tell me that she loved me. She added joy to our house, a twisted sense of humor, and a zest for life. Hers ended so quickly. Somehow I can just imagine her in heaven looking for rubber bands and cats, putting ice down the Saints backs, and just in general being a joy to Christ. We think of her often and will always miss her!!!
Patricia Vanhoy
I was thinking of Jane today. Still miss her. I don't think a week goes by that I don't think of her. Love all your stories