Jane Young Rainville
d. April 9, 2019
Jane Young Rainville, age 75, passed away Tuesday, April 9,2019, in Charlottesville.
Mathematician. Computer Education Pioneer. Traveler. Hiker. Teacher. Grandmother. Mother. Wife. Jane was all of these things and so much more. She enjoyed engaging with everyone she met in order to fully embrace her communities. And those communities were far-ranging: from Cohasset, Massachusetts to Evanston, Illinois and from Ouray, Colorado to Rockville, Maryland. Most recently she and her beloved husband of 52 years, Roger H. Rainville, settled in Charlottesville to be closer to two of their three granddaughters.
Jane’s careers were similarly diverse: from a mathematics major at Simmons College to an M.A. in math education at Loyola of Chicago; from a high school math teacher in Cohasset to a telephone management intern in Boston in the 1960s; from a Natural Food store accountant/manager (long before Farm-to-Table was popular!) to the accountant for a restaurant in Evanston in the 1970s; from a high school math teacher at Evanston Township High School (E.T.H.S.) to the director of one of the earliest computer labs at an American high school in the 1980s. Even upon her retirement in 2001, she joined new communities: as a docent at the Freer Sackler Gallery in Washington D.C. and a college math teacher at Montgomery Community College in Rockville, Md.
Three of her greatest delights were her “triplet,” eight-year-old granddaughters: Alexandra “Ali,” Celine, and Juliet. Her son, Keith Rainville, and daughter-in-law, Julie Faber, joined Jane and Ali on many adventures. Most recently, they enjoyed a two-week trip hiking in the Swiss Alps above the Eiger. Closer to home, Jane enjoyed spending time with her daughter, Lynn Rainville, son-in-law, Baron Schwartz, and their twins. Jane spent much of her free time designing educational activities for Celine and Juliet and exploring the natural world with them. Each of Jane’s granddaughters are more caring, curious, and compassionate as a result of the time that they spent with their grandmother.
Jane was also very proud of her innovative work in computer science education. As a result of the first-class high school computer lab that she designed at E.T.H.S. in 1980s, she was chosen to lead two international delegations to the People’s Republic of China in 1986 and 1988, and one to the USSR in 1990, where she introduced her international colleagues to the nascent field of computer education. Back in the U.S. her example inspired her two children to expand their own educational and professional boundaries. Her son went up, literally, excelling as a rock climber and outdoorsman. Her daughter inherited Jane’s insatiable curiosity and works in the field of education. If Jane were writing this obituary she would add pages and pages of additional information about her children here; she was immensely proud of them and deserves credit for being an amazing mother and role model.
During her battle with stage IV ovarian cancer she received excellent care from doctors at Johns Hopkins and the University of Virginia Health System. She was especially grateful to Dr. Tanner, Dr. Rajagopal, Dr. Duska, Anne Gabel, and Dr. Geilker. She leaves behind three siblings who will miss her dearly: Edwin Young, Daniel (and his wife, Becky) Young, and Sally Young Miller. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in memory of Jane Rainville, to the Friends of the Ouray Public Library: P.O. Box 625, Ouray, Colorado 81427.
