Dorothy Cecil Rainey

View Video TributeView Funeral WebcastDorothy Virginia Cecil Rainey, 88, retired Biology teacher at Columbia Central High School and longtime resident of Confederate Drive, died Sunday, May 5, 2013 at NHC Hillview. Funeral services will be conducted Wednesday at 11:00 A.M. at Cross Bridges Methodist Church with Rev. Steve Thomas and Rev. Joe Evans officiating. Burial will follow in Cross Bridges Methodist Cemetery. The family will visit with friends Tuesday from 4:00 - 7:00 P.M. at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home. The family suggests memorials to Maury County Retired Teachers' Scholarship Fund, c/o Margaret Pickle, 132 North Laurel Circle, Columbia, TN 38401, Cross Bridges Methodist Church, c/o Kenneth Cecil, 3097 Hampshire Pike, Mt. Pleasant, TN 38474, or First Presbyterian Church, 801 South High Street, Columbia, TN 38401. Condolences may be offered online at www.oakesandnichols.com. The Maury County native was born January 21, 1925, on the Cecil Family Farm, daughter of the late John Wilkerson Cecil, Jr. and Lula Clementine Lovell Cecil. Mrs. Rainey graduated from Columbia Central High School in 1942. She received a B.S. in Home Economics with a minor in Chemistry from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in December 1945 after beginning her college career at UT Martin. As a student in Knoxville, she worked at the UT Hoskins Library. After graduation from UT, Dot was employed in Oak Ridge for nine months, first as a chemical analyst at the Y-12 plant, later as receptionist for an optical company. On September 17, 1947, she married William Fleming Rainey, Jr. (Bill) of Columbia at Parsons Place on West Seventh Street, the home of her aunt and namesake, Virginia Scott Parsons. The newlyweds lived in Columbia for one year until Bill took a position as Park Ranger at Standing Stone State Park near Livingston. They lived in a park cabin until October 1949, when they returned to Columbia. Dot grew up in Cross Bridges Methodist Church, where her grandfather had donated a small portion of his farmland for the church and adjoining cemetery. After her marriage to Bill, she joined First Presbyterian Church where the Rainey family had a long history. There, she was active in the Women of the Church, making Chrismon ornaments for the annual Advent Tree, collecting stamps for the "Postage Stamps for Hunger" program, and knitting baby caps for newborns at Maury Regional Hospital. In 1950, the Rainey family opened Woodland Pool & Park on Hatcher Lane (on the south side of their property) and operated this unique facility until 1965. Mrs. Rainey taught swimming lessons for many Maury County children and some adults during those years. After Woodland Pool closed, the family enjoyed water skiing and camping on Kentucky Lake and other Tennessee River lakes. In 1967, the family of four traveled by boat from Kentucky Lake in Perry County to Ft. Loudoun Lake in Knox County (a total of 500 miles), camping and skiing along the way. Dot reluctantly retired her water skis at age 72. Mrs. Rainey was active in the Girl Scouts of America, serving as Troop Leader for Troop 134 (later known as 934) from 1956 to 1967. The first year she and Bill were married, Dot taught General Science at Columbia CHS. For one school year (1963-1964), "Miss Dot" taught kindergarten at First Presbyterian Church. In the 1960's, Mrs. Rainey studied botany and zoology at Peabody College in Nashville in order to become a certified high-school biology teacher. From 1964-1982, she was an excellent and well-respected biology teacher at Columbia CHS. After retiring from CHS, she became a biology laboratory instructor at Columbia State Community College. In 1974, the Rainey family made a gift of their farm to the City of Columbia for use as a public park. In later years, Dot and Bill also were instrumental in the restoration of Cross Bridges Methodist Church Cemetery and, most recently, in upgrades to the church building. During their retirement years, Dot and Bill gleaned much joy from sharing the harvest of their large vegetable garden and orchard. They also traveled to many western states, including Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming. In their later years, Dot and Bill conducted seminars and hikes in various Tennessee State Parks, assisting park rangers as well as the public in the education and appreciation of wildflowers and other native growth. In recent years, Mrs. Rainey volunteered with the Maury County Archives, helping to write and edit several books published by this organization, including ALL THE OLD FAMILIAR PLACES by Frank Sowell. She also contributed essays or stories for several Bob Duncan books, including RIVER OF FIRE, ARCHIVES NOTEBOOK and BORN OLD IN SIN. Dot was an accomplished seamstress, having designed and made pieces such as draperies, slipcovers, flags, swimsuits, lingerie, 5-pocket jeans, leather jackets, baby and children's clothes of all sorts, doll clothes, soft-side luggage, sport coats, suits, dress shirts, as well as all her own and her young children's clothing. She was incredibly creative with her sewing machine. In her retirement years, she shared her talents through the University of Tennessee Extension Service's Family and Community Education program. In addition, Dot leaves a wide variety of hand needlework for her family to treasure. Mrs. Rainey loved to knit, having learned the art as a child. From 1955 to 2003, Dot knitted over 200 Christmas stockings, mainly as baby gifts for several generations of family and friends - including one for Tyler Summitt, son of UT Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt. (Dot met Pat through her aunt, Virginia Parsons, who played on the Lady Vols 1920 team.) Survivors include a daughter, Linda Cecile Rainey Bell of Knoxville; a son and daughter-in-law, William Fleming "Will" (Rose) Rainey, III of Cross Bridges; a grandson, Nelson Wilkerson Rainey of Cross Bridges; a step grandson, Sgt. Andrew (Laura) Boucher, USMC, Pensacola Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida; a brother-in-law, Joseph M. (Betty) Rainey, Sr. of Sequin, Texas; a sister-in-law, Ann Rainey Moors of Tucson, Arizona; nieces and nephews, Bobby Duke Cecil, Kenneth Lovell Cecil, Susan Cecil Travis, J. M. Rainey, Jr., Frederick Stewart Rainey, and Elizabeth Brannon Rainey. She was preceded in death by her mother, Lula Clementine Lovell Cecil on December 10, 1927; her step-mother, Ruth Scott Cecil, on May 28, 1968; her father, John Wilkerson Cecil, Jr. on December 7, 1975; her half-brother, William "Billy" Scott Cecil, on December 12, 1983; her son-in-law, Talmadge Martin Warren, on August 24, 1999; her sister-in-law, Florence Duke Cecil on August 10, 2001; her husband, William "Bill" Fleming Rainey, Jr. , on December 18, 2005; and her brother, John "Jack" Wilkerson Cecil, III, on September 27, 2006. The family offers sincere and special thanks to the nurses, CNA's and all the staff at NHC Hillview, especially CNA Anna Odom, for their excellent care after Mrs. Rainey's stroke in August 2010. Active pallbearers will be Bobby Cecil, Kenny Cecil, Brick Rainey, Dawson Gray, Rainey Gray, Johnny Satterwhite, Freddie Fitzgerald, Kile Patrick, Dr. Andy Woodard, James Fleming, Bill Jones, Chip Alderson, and Mike Williams. Honorary pallbearers include Susan Cecil Travis, Anna Odom, William Parsons, Jimmy Parsons, Dr. John C. Tomlinson, Margaret Weber, Ophelia Miller, Roy Cecil, Bill Scott, Daniel Gray, III, Jeff Gray, Carol Jane Satterwhite, Dr. Karen Davis, Brian O'Cain, Gilbert Orr, Freddie Rich, Sheila Hickman, Eddie Hickman, David Vernon, Ray Porter, former employees of Woodland Pool, Maury County Retired Teachers, and members of Girl Scout Troop #934.