Our hearts are saddened today by the passing of one of our Riverview children.
7-year-old Jaleisa Dulaney was tragically taken from us in a car accident in the rain on I-26 on the Meadowview side of Bays Mountain Thursday, July 14, 2011.
"Jai Jai" was very active in the community, as a member of the New Vision Youth. She was a second grader at Jackson Elementary, and she loved to dress nice, and dance with her friends. She also loved going to the Riverview Splash Pad, and visiting her grandmother Mary Beatty, her other grandmother Clara Dulaney, and her great-grandmother Gloria-Dean Beatty, and her favorite great aunt, Patty Ferguson.
For three years, her date and escort to the New Vision Proms has been Michael Bell. Jai Jai and Mike-Mike were inseparable during the dances, and they really enjoyed each other's company. She always made sure to get her picture taken at the prom.
"She always would tell her grandmother Mary Beaty, to make sure to get her dress for the prom," remembers Johnnie Mae Swaggerty, New Vision Youth Director. "She was very active in the program, went on all the field trips, all the camps and had tons of energy and excitement.. she was always asking questions. She was very inquisitive about things, and wasn't afraid to speak up if she didn't understand something. She enjoyed the field trips, and usually you could count on Jai to ask questions. She had a marvelous curiosity"
"She was just a joy to be around."
As we have covered events for the New Vision Youth, your Douglass website editor always noticed that she had a smile. Always smiling.
"That's the one thing I will miss the most," Swagerty says. "She had the nicest smile.. she had a glow about her, that made all the other children want to be near her. And very obedient.. always did what she was told."
"You couldn't ask for a better child to work with."
Funeral arrangements for Jaleisa will be Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 12 Noon, with the receiving of friends beginning at 11 AM. The obituary is posted at the PASSINGS AND OBITUARIES link of your website.
Please keep the families in your prayers.
