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2006 SPECIAL SESSION I

062100216
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 5131
Offered August 28, 2006
Celebrating the life of the Reverend Dr. Calvin E. Rains, Sr.
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Patrons-- Armstrong, Hurt and Marshall, D.W.
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WHEREAS, the Reverend Dr. Calvin E. Rains, Sr., of Collinsville, longtime pastor and community benefactor, died July 30, 2006; and

WHEREAS, Calvin Rains was born on July 16, 1924, on a farm in Haskell County, Oklahoma, and moved with his family to California, where he was a senior in high school when Pearl Harbor was attacked; and

WHEREAS, inspired to serve his country in World War II, Calvin Rains joined the United States Navy, trained as a pilot, and served in the Pacific as an aircraft carrier fighter pilot; he was wounded and received the Purple Heart and the Navy Air Medal; and

WHEREAS, after World War II, Calvin Rains became a Baptist minister, but when the Korean War broke out, he returned to the military as a chaplain assigned to several units, including the United States Marine First Division in Korea and the Marine Helicopter Air Group at New River Air Facility at Camp LeJeune; and

WHEREAS, after the Korean War, Calvin Rains returned to the ministry, serving in several churches across the country until coming to the First Baptist Church of Collinsville in 1966, where he served for over a decade; and

WHEREAS, Calvin Rains retired as a full-time minister from the McCabe Memorial Church of Martinsville, but continued to help congregations without a preacher, even during times of remission when he was ill with cancer; and

WHEREAS, over the years, Calvin Rains was active in countless community organizations, including the Baptist General Association of Virginia, the Henry County Social Services Board, the Social Services Board of Henry-Martinsville, the Henry County Board of Supervisors, the CONTACT Board, the Hospice Training Committee, and the ACTION Council for Henry County; and

WHEREAS, always concerned about the welfare of his neighbors, Calvin Rains served as the chaplain for the Martinsville Fire Department and the Civil Air Patrol at Blue Ridge Airport and was a lifetime member of the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Marine Corps League; and

WHEREAS, on October 23, 2001, the Henry County Board of Supervisors presented Calvin Rains with the first Jack Dalton Community Service Award; and

WHEREAS, Calvin Rains was educated at Oklahoma Baptist University, earned three graduate degrees from other institutions, and was the author of several books; and

WHEREAS, Calvin Rains will be fondly remembered as a remarkable spiritual leader and will be missed by his devoted wife, Inez, his three children and their families, his five granddaughters and a great-granddaughter, and other loving family members and friends; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly mourn the loss of an outstanding Virginian, the Reverend Dr. Calvin E. Rains, Sr.; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of the Reverend Dr. Calvin E. Rains, Sr., as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.