August 19, 1932 was a hot Saturday in Sparta, TN- and it also happened to be Decoration Day at Saylors Cemetery. As visitors to the cemetery left their long gone loved ones behind, wind of a new birth drew them to a neighboring house down the road....and so Janey Ruth England was welcomed into this world not only by her mother and father, John Everette & Ethel Jewell Saylors, but by a host of guests eager to meet her; thus began a lifetime of love between Janey Ruth and people.
She spent her childhood on their family farm, always with a pup in tow and John Everette yelling "Trix!" behind her. Strangers and friends alike were always stopping by to see the Englands, instilling in Janey Ruth the importance of community and friendship. She always held people close.
She married her lifelong love, Robert Martin Price, in 1951, spending many wonderful years together. They raised two sons on the farm, Jon Martin and Danny O., all four becoming important figures in the county. The family attended her childhood church, Macedonia, where she was a devoted member for more than 70 years.
Janey spent her life and career in education. She attended the Macedonia Church School before graduating from White County High School in 1949 at the age of 16 and then Tennessee Polytechnic Institute at 19. She then spent more than 30 years teaching in the White County School System. She loved teaching and loved her students, most of which she could remember long after she had retired.
Janey Ruth also loved clubs. She met people and cultivated friendships in the countless clubs she was a part of over the years, a few of them being Alpha Delta Kappa, the White County Retired Teachers Association, the TN State Button Society, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the GFWC Renaissance Club; On top of all her commitments, she also served on the Board of Directors for the Ben Lomand Telephone Cooperative for 34 years, the first woman in the state to do so.
In her later years, you could find her reading, sewing, or playing Bridge, but her favorite time of all was spent with her grandchildren, Bobby (whom she always called Robert) and Kellie, taking them to play on her family farm or to piano lessons after school. Truly, family meant everything to Janey Ruth.
Janey Ruth England Price passed away on March 17, 2021 at Cookeville Regional Medical Center after spending 88 years in this world laughing, teaching, and loving on her family and friends. We will celebrate her life on Friday, March 19th, 2021 with receiving of family and friends from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at Macedonia the Baptist Church. Services will follow with Pastor Jeffery Howard officiating. Janey will then be laid to rest in Saylors Cemetery, surrounded by people that knew her and loved her, a fitting end to a wonderful life that was first celebrated by visitors to that very place on a hot August day, 88 years ago.
Surviving family members include the following:
Two Sons- Jon Price of Sparta and Danny Price and wife Debbie of Sparta
Two grandchildren- Bobby Price and wife Tiffany of Sparta
Kellie Locum and husband James of Sparta
Great grandchildren- Cooper, Scarlett, and Baby "Micah" Locum all of Sparta
Many special cousins and friends
***Janey Ruth's services of life will also be broadcasted on 88.1 FM in the parking lot of Macedonia Baptist
Online condolences may be made to the family at oaklawnmemorial.com