WELLINGTON — Selba Dollison Rainey two days before his 97th birthday joined his beloved wife Ozette in heaven Wednesday September 26, 2012. She went to be with her Lord on March 13, 1996. Funeral services will be at First Baptist Church in Wellington at 2 PM Saturday September 29. 2012. Burial will be in Memorial Gardens Cemetery by Adams Funeral Home.
He was one of a dwindling number of what has been convincingly called The Greatest Generation those millions of men and women who left farms and factories to save the world from totalitarianism in World War II. Except for the last seven years as a resident of the VA Community Living Center in Amarillo he lived his entire life in Collingsworth County.
Born in Shamrock on September 28, 1915 to Ace and Maggie Conner Rainey he married Effie Ozette Bennett in Wheeler County on January 12, 1938. He graduated from the new rural consolidated Samnorwood High School in 1936; and, following the U.S. entry into World War II he joined the Army on July 24, 1942. During his stateside training, Ozette followed him and worked wherever he was stationed. He deployed to Europe in September 1944 and their first child Darlene was born while he was there. She was seven months old when at the end of the war he came home to hold her.
Selba gave his life to the Lord at a very early age and as a teenager began writing poetry something he continued to do all his life. His poems have been published nationally and for his 94th birthday he was surprised with a self published collection of his work Poetry of my Life. The simple elegance of his poetry most often an expression of his Christian faith has been inspirational to readers as far away as Croatia. The book is in its fourth printing.
Selba was a farmer who involved himself in the church, school and civic affairs of his community. He served for years on the boards of Greenbelt Electric Cooperative and Collingsworth County Farm Bureau and ASCS; and he was an active member of his community's Baptist Church his entire life. When his children were growing up he never missed an event in which they participated having watched his children and grandchildren play an uncountable number of basketball games.
He loved the land and its indescribable beauty and for 50 years experienced the joy and the heartache of dryland cotton farming in the Texas Panhandle. Despite drought, wind and hail he never gave up always looking forward to the next crop year.
Selba is survived by two children and their spouses Darlene and husband Pete Smith of Amarillo and Joel and wife Tonya Rainey of Shamrock; three siblings Hollis Rainey, Cleoma (Rainey) Moody and Marie (Rainey) Finch; six grandchildren: Leigh (Smith) Morgan, Denise (Rainey) Hassell, Tiffany (Smith) Scoville, Sharlie (Rainey) Segura, Catherine (Smith) Daniel, and Erin (Rainey) Brown; 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandson.
He was preceded in death by his brother John Rainey and his sister Pauline (Rainey) Morris.
The family thanks PA Jim Taylor and the nurses and staff of Thomas E. Creek VA Community Living Center for their unparalleled care while Selba was a resident. Their tenderness, dignity and respect to our loved one exceeded all expectations and will never be forgotten.
The family suggests that memorials be to the Ozette B. Rainey Friends of Samnorwood Scholarship Fund in care of Amarillo Area Foundation 801 S. Fillmore Street Amarillo 79101; or to a favorite charity.
Amarillo Globe-News September 28, 2012
He was one of a dwindling number of what has been convincingly called The Greatest Generation those millions of men and women who left farms and factories to save the world from totalitarianism in World War II. Except for the last seven years as a resident of the VA Community Living Center in Amarillo he lived his entire life in Collingsworth County.
Born in Shamrock on September 28, 1915 to Ace and Maggie Conner Rainey he married Effie Ozette Bennett in Wheeler County on January 12, 1938. He graduated from the new rural consolidated Samnorwood High School in 1936; and, following the U.S. entry into World War II he joined the Army on July 24, 1942. During his stateside training, Ozette followed him and worked wherever he was stationed. He deployed to Europe in September 1944 and their first child Darlene was born while he was there. She was seven months old when at the end of the war he came home to hold her.
Selba gave his life to the Lord at a very early age and as a teenager began writing poetry something he continued to do all his life. His poems have been published nationally and for his 94th birthday he was surprised with a self published collection of his work Poetry of my Life. The simple elegance of his poetry most often an expression of his Christian faith has been inspirational to readers as far away as Croatia. The book is in its fourth printing.
Selba was a farmer who involved himself in the church, school and civic affairs of his community. He served for years on the boards of Greenbelt Electric Cooperative and Collingsworth County Farm Bureau and ASCS; and he was an active member of his community's Baptist Church his entire life. When his children were growing up he never missed an event in which they participated having watched his children and grandchildren play an uncountable number of basketball games.
He loved the land and its indescribable beauty and for 50 years experienced the joy and the heartache of dryland cotton farming in the Texas Panhandle. Despite drought, wind and hail he never gave up always looking forward to the next crop year.
Selba is survived by two children and their spouses Darlene and husband Pete Smith of Amarillo and Joel and wife Tonya Rainey of Shamrock; three siblings Hollis Rainey, Cleoma (Rainey) Moody and Marie (Rainey) Finch; six grandchildren: Leigh (Smith) Morgan, Denise (Rainey) Hassell, Tiffany (Smith) Scoville, Sharlie (Rainey) Segura, Catherine (Smith) Daniel, and Erin (Rainey) Brown; 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandson.
He was preceded in death by his brother John Rainey and his sister Pauline (Rainey) Morris.
The family thanks PA Jim Taylor and the nurses and staff of Thomas E. Creek VA Community Living Center for their unparalleled care while Selba was a resident. Their tenderness, dignity and respect to our loved one exceeded all expectations and will never be forgotten.
The family suggests that memorials be to the Ozette B. Rainey Friends of Samnorwood Scholarship Fund in care of Amarillo Area Foundation 801 S. Fillmore Street Amarillo 79101; or to a favorite charity.
Amarillo Globe-News September 28, 2012
WELLINGTON — Selba Dollison Rainey two days before his 97th birthday joined his beloved wife Ozette in heaven Wednesday September 26, 2012. She went to be with her Lord on March 13, 1996. Funeral services will be at First Baptist Church in Wellington at 2 PM Saturday September 29. 2012. Burial will be in Memorial Gardens Cemetery by Adams Funeral Home.
He was one of a dwindling number of what has been convincingly called The Greatest Generation those millions of men and women who left farms and factories to save the world from totalitarianism in World War II. Except for the last seven years as a resident of the VA Community Living Center in Amarillo he lived his entire life in Collingsworth County.
Born in Shamrock on September 28, 1915 to Ace and Maggie Conner Rainey he married Effie Ozette Bennett in Wheeler County on January 12, 1938. He graduated from the new rural consolidated Samnorwood High School in 1936; and, following the U.S. entry into World War II he joined the Army on July 24, 1942. During his stateside training, Ozette followed him and worked wherever he was stationed. He deployed to Europe in September 1944 and their first child Darlene was born while he was there. She was seven months old when at the end of the war he came home to hold her.
Selba gave his life to the Lord at a very early age and as a teenager began writing poetry something he continued to do all his life. His poems have been published nationally and for his 94th birthday he was surprised with a self published collection of his work Poetry of my Life. The simple elegance of his poetry most often an expression of his Christian faith has been inspirational to readers as far away as Croatia. The book is in its fourth printing.
Selba was a farmer who involved himself in the church, school and civic affairs of his community. He served for years on the boards of Greenbelt Electric Cooperative and Collingsworth County Farm Bureau and ASCS; and he was an active member of his community's Baptist Church his entire life. When his children were growing up he never missed an event in which they participated having watched his children and grandchildren play an uncountable number of basketball games.
He loved the land and its indescribable beauty and for 50 years experienced the joy and the heartache of dryland cotton farming in the Texas Panhandle. Despite drought, wind and hail he never gave up always looking forward to the next crop year.
Selba is survived by two children and their spouses Darlene and husband Pete Smith of Amarillo and Joel and wife Tonya Rainey of Shamrock; three siblings Hollis Rainey, Cleoma (Rainey) Moody and Marie (Rainey) Finch; six grandchildren: Leigh (Smith) Morgan, Denise (Rainey) Hassell, Tiffany (Smith) Scoville, Sharlie (Rainey) Segura, Catherine (Smith) Daniel, and Erin (Rainey) Brown; 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandson.
He was preceded in death by his brother John Rainey and his sister Pauline (Rainey) Morris.
The family thanks PA Jim Taylor and the nurses and staff of Thomas E. Creek VA Community Living Center for their unparalleled care while Selba was a resident. Their tenderness, dignity and respect to our loved one exceeded all expectations and will never be forgotten.
The family suggests that memorials be to the Ozette B. Rainey Friends of Samnorwood Scholarship Fund in care of Amarillo Area Foundation 801 S. Fillmore Street Amarillo 79101; or to a favorite charity.
Amarillo Globe-News September 28, 2012
He was one of a dwindling number of what has been convincingly called The Greatest Generation those millions of men and women who left farms and factories to save the world from totalitarianism in World War II. Except for the last seven years as a resident of the VA Community Living Center in Amarillo he lived his entire life in Collingsworth County.
Born in Shamrock on September 28, 1915 to Ace and Maggie Conner Rainey he married Effie Ozette Bennett in Wheeler County on January 12, 1938. He graduated from the new rural consolidated Samnorwood High School in 1936; and, following the U.S. entry into World War II he joined the Army on July 24, 1942. During his stateside training, Ozette followed him and worked wherever he was stationed. He deployed to Europe in September 1944 and their first child Darlene was born while he was there. She was seven months old when at the end of the war he came home to hold her.
Selba gave his life to the Lord at a very early age and as a teenager began writing poetry something he continued to do all his life. His poems have been published nationally and for his 94th birthday he was surprised with a self published collection of his work Poetry of my Life. The simple elegance of his poetry most often an expression of his Christian faith has been inspirational to readers as far away as Croatia. The book is in its fourth printing.
Selba was a farmer who involved himself in the church, school and civic affairs of his community. He served for years on the boards of Greenbelt Electric Cooperative and Collingsworth County Farm Bureau and ASCS; and he was an active member of his community's Baptist Church his entire life. When his children were growing up he never missed an event in which they participated having watched his children and grandchildren play an uncountable number of basketball games.
He loved the land and its indescribable beauty and for 50 years experienced the joy and the heartache of dryland cotton farming in the Texas Panhandle. Despite drought, wind and hail he never gave up always looking forward to the next crop year.
Selba is survived by two children and their spouses Darlene and husband Pete Smith of Amarillo and Joel and wife Tonya Rainey of Shamrock; three siblings Hollis Rainey, Cleoma (Rainey) Moody and Marie (Rainey) Finch; six grandchildren: Leigh (Smith) Morgan, Denise (Rainey) Hassell, Tiffany (Smith) Scoville, Sharlie (Rainey) Segura, Catherine (Smith) Daniel, and Erin (Rainey) Brown; 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandson.
He was preceded in death by his brother John Rainey and his sister Pauline (Rainey) Morris.
The family thanks PA Jim Taylor and the nurses and staff of Thomas E. Creek VA Community Living Center for their unparalleled care while Selba was a resident. Their tenderness, dignity and respect to our loved one exceeded all expectations and will never be forgotten.
The family suggests that memorials be to the Ozette B. Rainey Friends of Samnorwood Scholarship Fund in care of Amarillo Area Foundation 801 S. Fillmore Street Amarillo 79101; or to a favorite charity.
Amarillo Globe-News September 28, 2012
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