DR. JUANITA LANE

Dr. Juanita Lane, M.D., was born on March 31, 1958, to James Israel and Lillie Mae Tindal Lane, the third of five children. She attended DeLaine Elementary School of Wedgefield for eight years. She graduated in 1975 with honors from Hillcrest High School of Dalzell. She attended Claflin University in Orangeburg for three years where she was active with the Pre-alumni Council, NAACP and the Oxford Club. She volunteered with the community afterschool program for at-risk children. It was at Claflin, where she joined the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. She loved Zeta dearly.
Juanita, in her final year of undergraduate studies, was in the pre-med program at Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, where she graduated with honors. After completing undergraduate school, she returned to South Carolina to work a year with the school system. Because of a lifelong thirst for knowledge, she entered the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, South Carolina, where she remained for a year and a half.
Because of conditions in South Carolina, she transferred to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, a tier one best medical school in Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated with honors in 1994. After graduating from Case Western, she worked at the Cleveland Clinic and did extensive research within the area of sickle cell anemia while working in psychiatry. She met and married Spain N. James, an engineer in Cleveland, Ohio. They were blessed with a son, Lane William James, the apple and light of her eye and life. Juanita continued at Cleveland’s Clinic until her health failed and she relocated to Madison Heights, Michigan, to be near her mother and siblings in Southfield, Michigan. She became very active with the women’s auxiliary of the Madison Heights United Methodist Church and enjoyed worshiping there, participating with the monthly food give away and listening to the sermons of the Rev. Dr. Rodney K. Diggs, pastor. Juanita also loved her nieces and nephews dearly — Carl, Sabrina, Fredricka, David, James, Brittani, Demetrious, Jessica, Joshua and Danielle. She remained in constant contact with her grandniece Olivia.
She was preceded in death by her parents, James and Lillie Mae Lane; brother, Stewart R. “Rickey Lane” Tindal; and sister, Lisa L. Lane.
She is survived by her son, Lane W. James (Caitlin), Cleveland, Ohio; sister, Gloria J. Lane, Greensboro, North Carolina; brother, the Rev. James C. (Shirley) Lane, Sumter; sister-in-law, Hattie B. T. Ervin, Columbia; aunt, Maggie D. Lane, and uncle, Marion Champion, both of Sumter; and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
The family will receive friends at the home of her brother, the Rev. James C. (Shirley) Lane, 1700 London Road, Sumter, on Thursday and Friday, March 27-28, from 3-6:30 p.m.
The Zeta service and the celebration of life will be held on Saturday, March 29, 2025, at 2 p.m. at the Mt. Zion UMC, 130 Loring Mill Road, Sumter. The Rev. Troy J. Cato, pastor, the Rev. John Dicks officiating, and the and Rev. James Lane, eulogist.
Services directed by The Management and Staff of Williams Funeral Home Inc., 821 N. Main St., Sumter.  Online messages may be sent to the family at www.williamsfuneralhomeinc.com