BIRTH: Name: Janie Elaine Huntington
Event Type: Birth
Event Date: 29 Jun 1945
Event Place: Hale, Texas
Gender: Female
Father's Name: Leland W Huntington
Mother's Name: Eva Lee Ellis
Certificate Number:
Citing this Record:
"Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V8H3-FND : 1 January 2015), Janie Elaine Huntington, 29 Jun 1945; from "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing Texas Department of State Health Services.
BIOGRAPHY: Name: Janie Elaine Aday
Also Known As: Janie Huntington Aday
Residence Date: 25 Feb 2004
Residence Place: Plainview, Texas, United States
Birth Date: 29 Jun 1945
Phone Number: 296-2241
Phone Number Recorded Date: 17 Apr 2008
Address: 3322 Olton Rd
Address Continued: Plainview, Texas 79072
Address Date: 25 Feb 2004
2nd Address: 1404 Zephyr St
2nd Address Continued: Plainview, Texas 79072
2nd Address Date: 01 May 1995-01 Jan 2004
3rd Address: 380 PO Box
3rd Address Continued: Plainview, Texas 79073
3rd Address Date: 23 Sep 1971-30 Jan 2006
Possible Relatives: D A Aday, Deward A Aday, Jeffery Thomas Aday, Thomas Arnold Aday, Tom Aday, Thomas A Aday
Record Number: 82567519
Citing this Record:
"United States Public Records, 1970-2009," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K53S-JP1 : 22 May 2014), Janie Elaine Aday, Residence, Plainview, Texas, United States; a third party aggregator of publicly available information.
OBITUARY: Janie Elaine Huntington Aday, 74, of Plainview, TX, passed away at home in her sleep on March 27, 2020. Janie, or Blondie, as many affectionately knew her, was tall and beautiful and rarely seen without perfect eyeliner, lipstick, and hair. Her family spent time waiting on her to get ready, but she always made an entrance. Her smile was radiant and she charmed everyone who had the good fortune to meet her. Janie was born June 29, 1945 in Plainview, TX. She was preceded in death by her parents, Leland Wayne and Eva Lee Ellis Huntington, both farmers from Plainview, and her two older brothers Teddy Wayne Huntington and Army Lt. Col. Bobby Neil Huntington. The family was affected with a congenital heart condition that eventually led to Janie’s successful donor heart transplant in 2005. It was the bravest thing she ever did. She married Thomas Arnold Aday in Plainview on August 29, 1964, in a wedding dress she made herself, and they embarked on an eventful life together. They both became pharmacists at Southwestern Oklahoma State University School of Pharmacy. Eventually, they made their way back to Plainview and Janie worked in countless hospitals and small town pharmacies across West Texas, in addition to the two businesses she and Tom owned, Edgemere Pharmacy and Aday’s Pharmacy, until their retirement in 1997. Janie and Tom had two children: Kristi Lane Aday, and her husband Sam Samani, live in New Braunfels. Jeffery Thomas Aday, lives in Madrid, Spain. Both Janie and Tom worked to give their kids the advantages they never had. She signed them up for everything, attended countless dance recitals and basketball games, went all-out for Christmas, perfected Jeff’s favorite lemon cake, and created a warm, inviting home. Blondie’s true calling was art, in its many forms. As a child, she taught her cousins Vicky and Cindy Greer how to dance and do their hair. She loved beautiful things, was a collector of angels, beads, baubles, and made jewelry she rarely wore. She painted beautiful pieces of art and collected mementos from her travels around the world with Tom and all their pharmacy friends. Her favorite place in the world was Possum Kingdom Lake. She and Tom spent time floating in the lake with their beloved dog Bogie, visiting all the Greers, and enjoying retirement. The last ten years of Blondie’s life were difficult with many health issues. But it was made easier by a host of life-long friends, extended family, and the loving care of her steadfast friend, Jean Williams. Life is sometimes unfair. Jeff is under quarantine at home in Madrid, Spain. Friends and family are rightfully social distancing. When the world returns to normal and Jeff can come home, we will have a wake in her honor. In the meantime, we ask that in lieu of flowers, please make a donation in her name to LifeGift, at www.lifegift.org or register to be an organ donor. - Find a Grave Memorial 208584218
HEALTH: Janie Aday says her new heart is precious gift 07-16-2006
NICKI BRUCE LOGAN
Published 7:00 pm CDT, Sunday, August 20, 2006
Herald Lifestyles Editor
By NICKI BRUCE LOGAN
Herald Lifestyles Editor
Janie Aday and her family remember June 20, 2005, in different ways. Mostly it was with relief and the knowledge that finally she would have a "new" heart after years of declining health. "It was the longest day of my life," declares Kristi, the Adays' daughter who now lives in Florida. Last June, she lived in The Woodlands. "I heard my dad's message on my answering machine at about 5 a.m. saying 'Kristi, we got the call.' I think that's all he said and I went into panic mode." She talked to her brother, Jeff, who also lives in the Houston area, made phone calls, made arrangements to be out of her office, then hurried down to meet her parents at the hospital. Meanwhile, Janie and her husband of almost 43 years, Tom, were doing their thing in Plainview. "We got the call at about 4:48 a.m., then immediately Tom called Mike Hutcherson (owner of Hutcherson Air Service who was at his home in Lubbock) to tell him. Mike said he would have the plane ready and be at the airport in Plainview by 6:30," Janie says. "Tom went to his office to get papers and things he would need while we were in Houston, and I watered my plants. When he came home, I was taking a bath. He couldn't believe it," she laughs. At the same time, Jeff Aday was hearing from his sister, Kristi. "I recall getting her phone call early on the morning of the 20th and was surprised at the shaking panic in her voice. In contrast to my excitable sister, I felt more relief than anything," he says. "If I remember correctly, it was a little over a year from the time that she was put on the transplant list until she went into surgery. From my perspective, each day of that year was more stressful than the actual day of the surgery and the subsequent recovery period. "I was greatly worried that she would not get a new heart in time. During this time on the transplant list, Mom moved up the list as her condition worsened. Of course this was a double-edged sword — we were hopeful as she moved up the list, but that hope came at the expense of Mom's health. " Actually, Janie started on the heart transplant track in August 2003 when her electrophysiologist, Dr. Rigo Patron, in Lubbock suggested it was time the Adays consider a transplant. Patron had completed a fellowship at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston and recommended that they go there. Janie says that until that time she hadn't thought about having to have a heart transplant. "My heart problem first surfaced when I was 28 and pregnant. The doctor found that I had an abnormally slow heartbeat and very low blood pressure." Through the years, Janie's doctors monitored her heart condition, first with medications, then with a pacemaker, then ablation and, later added a defibrillator. During this time, Janie had family members who also were affected by the same problems. Heart problems plagued her mother and two athletic brothers, Ted Huntington died at the age of 33 and Bob Huntington, who was 45 when he died of a heart attack while playing tennis, as well as her maternal grandfather, a great aunt, a cousin and other relatives. Janie searched for a string that connected them. "I spent many hours in the basement of the hospital searching for my grandfather's records," she says. Although those years were marked by countless changes of medication in an effort to find the magic combination and included a number of hospital stays, most notably one where she was in the cardiac intensive care unit at Methodist in Lubbock for a couple of weeks, fighting an infection, Janie continued to work full time as a hospital and private pharmacist. Fast forward to 2003 when she was told she needed the transplant. "It usually takes at least 18 months for a patient to make it through the system," Janie says, describing the amount of testing that has to be completed, with favorable results, before being put on the transplant list. "Tom took over and made all the arrangements. Some of the tests I had done here and in Lubbock, others I had at Houston." She credits the fact that she went through the testing period at a rapid pace to her husband's organization and fast action in making test arrangements and the follow-ups. In order to be ready to take care of Janie when it came time for her heart transplant, Tom, who needed a knee joint replacement, had his surgery in Houston while they were waiting for a heart to become available. "For a 58-year-old woman with heart disease, I was in good health," she says. "The testing was unbelievable from lower and upper GI, sleep apnea, mammogram, Doppler of legs, bone density, fat pad biopsy every test known I had it," she laughs. She pauses for a minute to mention the importance of her medical team. "I've always heard about having a medical team, but didn't believe it until I needed one. I can't say enough about the doctors, nurses and staff who were with us every step of the way. They were wonderful." A statuesque blonde known for her sense of humor as well as her intelligence (she is a registered pharmacist) and beauty, she explains that the donor heart must come from a person of similar size. "Several hearts from small women came up on the computer while we were waiting, but they were too small." The waiting for a heart was hard for many reasons. While it was an emotional roller-coaster for her family and friends, Janie says she was on anti-anxiety medication that leveled her emotions. The real problem was adjusting to heart medications and the side effects that accompanied them as well as the startling jolts from her implanted defibrillator and pacemaker. Jeff describes those times. "In the years prior to the surgery, as the heart specialists here in Houston continually adjusted her medications, Mom suffered many side effects that really had an adverse effect on her day-to-day functioning. Then too, I think as a result of all the tampering with her meds, there were a number of times when her internal defibrillator engaged and gave her heart a massive shock, which she described as like being kicked in the chest by a mule. "I felt the first jolt at 2 a.m. Feb. 5, 2002, then several more times through the following five months until it zapped me 12 times on July 28 that year," Janie says, adding that she was rushed by helicopter to the hospital in Lubbock. "You can imagine, after the first time the defibrillator shocked her, the anxiety she and Dad must have felt waiting for it to shock her the next time. “So, the stress of the time leading up to the transplant was really wearing on us all. As I said, when I got the call I felt only relief that this would be the beginning of what I was sure was the end of Mom's long struggle with heart disease. I had a great deal of faith in the doctors and nurses who treated her. I knew that the extensive testing and matching protocols would ensure as close a match as possible and that any rejection could likely be controlled with drugs." The selection procedures are handled mainly by computer, Janie explains. "Ninety-eight percent of the decisions are made by a computer that compares the donor to the prospective recipient — particularly heart size, tissue and blood type then the doctors make the final comparisons and decision." The elation of being told a heart was available for her was tempered by the sadness that, in order for her to get that heart, a person had to die. "As a family, we are all so grateful for the sacrifice that 21-year-old soldier (who was the donor) made in service to his country and we can't express enough how much we owe his family for their decision to extend their son's life through this precious gift," Jeff says. Once Janie and Tom arrived at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, expecting to be rushed to the operating room, things slowed to a crawl. "We were always told that after she got 'the call,' the transplant would have to occur within four hours. But it turned out she didn't go into surgery until late evening, Kristi says. "We still don't know exactly what happened between 5 a.m. and that night. Late in the afternoon when we got into her room at the St. Luke's Heart Center, we were able to see more of the process. The doctor in charge was in regular contact with the hospital where the heart donor was and with the doctor St. Luke's sent to harvest the heart. I remember standing beside him while he was on the phone confirming that the donor heart had been clamped off the crucial step and then we knew it was really about to happen.' Janie remembers that she kept telling herself and her family, "I can do this." "I said it over and over," she remembers the hours before the actual surgery. "I was more excited than anything and it helped that Tom and the kids kept me laughing. I remember that the staff would tell us that the 'heart was 40 minutes out' and '20 minutes out.' They kept us informed." "From there, the process is carefully and masterfully orchestrated," Kristi explains. "Mom was taken to surgery at just such time so that when the donor heart arrives at the hospital, it can be transplanted immediately that the recipient is "open," the diseased heart removed, and ready for acceptance of a new heart. Its hard to think of my Mom that way, but that's the process." Jeff takes up the "surgery story. "So, the stress of the time leading up to the transplant was really wearing on us all. As I said, when I got the call I felt only relief that this would be the beginning of what I was sure was the end of Mom's long struggle with heart disease. I had a great deal of faith in the doctors and nurses who treated her. I knew that the extensive testing and matching protocols would ensure as close a match as possible and that any rejection could likely be controlled with drugs." "While waiting during the surgery was only about four to five hours, it seemed like days," Kristi adds. "The doctors came out twice and told us how well she did, which was such a relief. We didn't get to see her until about 1 a.m. and while we prepared for the worst, she looked better than we could have imagined. She was coming out of the anesthesia and we just kept telling her "you did it!" Jeff says his Mom's attitude bolstered the entire family. "Mom was incredibly brave throughout the whole process, including the day of the surgery. We're used to having Dad be the strength we all depend on in times of crisis, but in this case, I think Mom's strength and equanimity on the day of the surgery gave us all courage. " My sister even managed to calm down a bit." Janie's recovery was nothing short of miraculous, according to Tom. "Blondie was in the hospital only 11 days — which I still can't believe. The doctors told us it was some kind of record. We've been very lucky that her recovery has gone so well." He laughs when recounting how the organ anti-rejection drugs affected Janie. "To say she was emotional would be an understatement. She cried at every little thing — pictures of dogs and kittens, cards and calls from friends, songs." Janie agrees with Tom's comment. "Once we were in the apartment after leaving the hospital, I was able to get out and go shopping. I remember every tree I saw, I said, 'Tom, just look at that tree, it's so beautiful.'" Tom probably remembers that trip because of the bead store where they were browsing. Janie was so caught up with the beauty of the beads, that she bought an amazing amount. "I think I bought about $500 worth that I plan to string someday," she laughs. It may be awhile before she gets around to bead work because of the side effects from her medications. "I have the trembles which makes it hard to string beads or paint." Janie is a talented painter and has begun to paint again using what she describes as a "paint-by-number" method. All in all, a year later, she looks and feels remarkable. "I'm not limited in anything I want to do. In fact, the doctors keep telling me that I can do anything I feel like doing except expose myself to higher dangers of infection." When celebrating her new birthday last month, Janie stresses that appreciation to the donor's family as well as wanting to encourage people to become organ donors is a theme in the Adays' story. And it is a family story. "As a family, we urge everyone to consider organ donation," Jeff says.
EDUCATION: Janie Huntington in the U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999
Name: Janie Huntington
Estimated Age: 16
Birth Year: abt 1945
Yearbook Date: 1961
School: Plainview High School
School Location: Plainview, Texas, USA
Grade Completed: Sophomore
Source Citation: "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: Plainview High School; Year: 1961
Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Original data: Various school yearbooks from across the United States.
Janie Huntington in the U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999
Name: Janie Huntington
Estimated Age: 16
Birth Year: abt 1946
Yearbook Date: 1962
School: Plainview High School
School Location: Plainview, Texas, USA
Photo: Cheerleader
Source Citation: "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012"; School Name: Plainview High School; Year: 1962
Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
MEDIA: A9979 - Janie Elaine Huntington Aday w/o Thomas Arnold Aday - U.S. School Yearbooks - Plainview High School - Plainview, Hale, Texas - Sophomore Class photo 1961 - Ancestry.com
A9980 - Janie Elaine Huntington Aday w/o Thomas Arnold Aday - U.S. School Yearbooks - Plainview High School - Plainview, Hale, Texas - Cheerleader photo 1963 - Ancestry.com
A9981 - Janie Elaine Huntington Aday w/o Thomas Arnold Aday - U.S. School Yearbooks - Plainview High School - Plainview, Hale, Texas - Junior Class photo 1962 - Ancestry.com
