From the South banks of the Sulphur River they crossed north to work a farm on the west side of The Sweetest Town in Texas, Honey Grove. Annelle was a proud 1947 graduate of HGHS.
She met Paul Washington Rains, from another family of sharecroppers near Paris, Texas, and they married there on October 7, 1951.
They moved to Dallas and purchased a small home at 6537 Trammel, which at that time was the edge of town. Cows came up to their back fence.
They became early members of Wilshire Baptist Church and raised their family in the Lakewood area, where Annelle served on the Woodrow Wilson High School PTA board. She was another mother to many.
She worked at Honeywell before her children were born and returned to a career at SMU as they were in high school, mainly for the tuition benefit for son Kyle.
Her hobbies were gardening and sewing. She made many clothes for her children and grandchildren, including all the costumes for daughter Jana, an accomplished twirler.
Annelle is now free of her long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She passed peacefully holding the hands of her children, in her home of fifty years.
She is survived by son J. Kyle Rains, daughter Jana Kay Rains Stillwagon and husband Steve, grandson Matthew Stillwagon, granddaughter Julie Stillwagon, R.N. and buddy/caregiver SanJuana Balderas.
Memorials may be made to the Woodrow Community Foundation, PO Box 140062, Dallas, Texas, 75214.
https://woodrowfoundation.org/product/donate/
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Sparkman-Hillcrest.com for the Rains family.
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