38 FEBRUARY 2026 | INTHEVUE.COM Granddaughter Whitney Taylor recalls her “Pappy” and “Nanny”: “Their relationship taught us to build a foundation around God, to love hard, forgive easy, be patient, be kind, and live life to the fullest.” She says that love for life and for one another showed up everywhere: in handwritten anniversary cards exchanged every single year, in excited plans for cake because “anniversaries and birthdays deserved celebrating”, and in the way they always told each other they loved one another more than they did the year before. Forever, they would say, still wouldn’t be long enough. Jimmie had a successful career and eventually retired from the maintenance department at B.F. Goodrich and was also a member of the Local 184 Plumbers and Steamfitters Union. Aside from the time work required him to be away from his bride, Jimmie was rarely seen without his Jan. “They were almost always side by side,” Fulks recalls of her parents’ loving nature. The couple loved to shop, spend time with family, and could often be found helping out at Maggie’s Jungle Golf leading school groups, showcasing the animals, and serving up snow cones. It was a family affair and, most importantly, Fulks notes, they enjoyed doing all of these things together. Everyone agreed that Jimmie was the head of the household – with one exception: Jan always drove the two and she earned quite a reputation for her driving skills according to Fulks. “Mother liked to drive fast,” she confesses. A personalized “Fast Nanny” license plate adorned the 4-cylinder black Volkswagen stick shift ‘’Beetle” Jan was known to drive around town – always a little too fast for her own good, if you were to ask the grandkids. It also helped her earn yet another nickname, “Ladybug”. Of course, no marriage is perfect and without its moments. The family still laughs about one rare “disagreement” - the time Jimmie tried to surprise Janice by mowing the yard. Janice, who took great pride in her gardens, was less than thrilled at the gesture. Some things she felt, were best left exactly the way she had them. Not bothered by the upset, Jimmie would often tell those who asked the secret to a successful life (including marriage): “Never give up on anyone or anything, especially a marriage. It is the hardest, but most rewarding thing you will ever do.” Never give up on anyone or anything, especially a marriage. It is the hardest, but most rewarding thing you will ever do. And “never giving up” was another foundational principle of their long-lived relationship. The two continued to live life to the fullest, but in the final years of Janice’s life, her body grew tired. Severe hip degeneration and dementia slowly changed the couple’s busy daily life. Even as her memory faded, Jimmie never left her side. “Daddy was the one who gave mama her medications every single day, up until the last day he could administer them – she would not take them from anyone else,” Jimila recalls. The family says that in the last year or so of Jan’s life, dementia took hold so tightly she didn’t recognize much about her life, but she somehow seemed to remember her beloved “Cash”, as she called him.
