He was born on Sept 1, 1919, in Salisbury, NC, raised in Fayetteville, NC, educated at Davidson College (BS) and UNC Chapel Hill (PhD). 

He was a professor most of his life, starting as an Eagle Scout teaching younger kids, then taught chemistry at Davidson, was a scoutmaster in DC, an instructor in San Francisco for the Navy during WW2, a Professor at Clemson. He was a lifelong learner and did research at ORNL. (X-10 to Oak Ridgers!) 

But his best, and longest term assignment was as our father, married to our mother (Mary Swann Rainey) for 62+ years, helping us all through schools in Oak Ridge, TN, and colleges across the US, and then investing in our families, now including 19 great-grandkids! He introduced us, and nephews and neighbors to the Appalachian Trail, scaring off bears with pans and hollering. He included us in countless projects, always learning, himself, and teaching us as he went: Built and filled a greenhouse with camellias and bonsais, created an arboretum around our house, built a split rail fence in our front yard which is still covered in beautiful vines, made pottery on a wheel and fired in the kiln, raised generations of Scotties, stained and nailed cedar shakes on our home, taught us to body surf in the Atlantic, made beautiful furniture, wrote his memoirs with hunt & peck keyboard skills. 

We saw him invest countless hours, with our mother, in more people than we can begin to name.  They sponsored a refugee family  fleeing war in Laos...parents and 8 kids when they arrived in Oak Ridge, adding one more in Tennessee! The Moua family taught the Raineys as much as we taught them...a beautiful example of God's Economy where our call to service ends up benefitting the servers as much as the served! They hosted Gen Takamoto, from Japan, for two summers at their Blue Bell Farm so Gen could learn English...and learn all about raising  blueberries, driving the Kubota tractor, and working on the PVC irrigation system. Daddy made learning fun and adventurous. There was plenty of work accomplished...but he made it fun.

He and mother worshipped at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church, and Daddy stayed active after mother died in 2011. 

He is survived by Eleanor (Wesley) Crum, Tommy (Kathy) Rainey, Julie (Tim) Head and Molly (Tommy) Cousins, and 12 grandkids and 19 great-grandkids. He is currently teaching his last class, letting doctors and EMTs practice on his amazing body to benefit the rest of us. We, and you, are blessed! We will celebrate his life Sat Oct 29, at 2pm, Clemson Crosspoint Church. 

He sponsored kids overseas and supported local ministries. If you want to donate, either Wears Valley Ranch, founded and run by their pastor's brother ( https://wvr.org/ ) or Thrive ( https://thrivelonsdale.com/ ) were two of his favorites. Both focus on helping kids from difficult settings in east Tennessee. 

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