Janis Mitchell Weems died on July 25, 2021, at her home in Oxford. A private memorial service will be held in Oxford.
She was born to Pauline Wheeler Mitchell and Charles S. Mitchell in 1939 in Corinth, MS. She had an idyllic childhood and upon graduation from Corinth High School she attended Millsaps College. She became a member of Chi Omega, and majored in French.
Upon graduation, she taught French and Latin at Kingsbury High School in Memphis for two years. In 1963 she married Robert A. Weems, a marriage that was terminated only by her death fifty-eight years later.
She taught French and English at Murrah High School in Jackson for a year before they moved to Oxford where Bob entered law school. She had several jobs to help him get through law school, including a year teaching in Batesville.
Upon graduation from law school, they moved to Vicksburg where her husband practiced law. They lived very happily in Vicksburg for eleven years before moving back to Oxford when Bob accepted an offer to teach at the law school. While in Vicksburg she gave birth to her daughter, Margaret and her son, Robert. She also started ‘interiors unlimited’, an interior decorating business.
Shortly after arriving back in Oxford, she accepted an offer from the student government to organize and operate ‘Barristers’ Book Store’, which sold law text books and materials. She did this for five years, and greatly enjoyed getting to know the students and learn what was really going on at the law school.
She was a devoted and grateful member of the Browning Club for over forty years and she supported her children in all of their studies and activities. She especially enjoyed taking Margaret and friends to rock concerts in Memphis. On those occasions she was advised by the girls to just ignore the strange smoke going around the mid-south coliseum.
She was an avid fan of all Ole Miss athletics. She went to the games when she could, and listened on the radio or watched on tv when she could not. She knew more about recruiting (due to frequent reading of the sports boards) than any other family member.
Janis experienced far more than her fair share of pain in her life-migraine headaches, then fibromyalgia, and finally cancer. But they did not prevent her from being a wonderful wife, mother, and friend.
She does not hurt anymore.
Expressions of sympathy or memorial contributions in Janis’ memory may be made to her church, Oxford-University United Methodist Church, 424 S. 10th Street, Oxford, MS 38655.
