from the USTA Communications Department

Columbus, OH — Jean Hight Childs, 83, died Jan. 4, 2011, in Scarborough, Maine.

She was born in Portland on Oct. 4, 1927, the daughter of Ellis F. and Julia (Kenney) Hight. She was educated in Portland schools, graduating from Portland High School, Westbrook Junior College and the University of Southern Maine.

Mrs. Childs and her late husband, Dana White Childs, were active participants in harness racing, owning Race Me Stables in Westbrook for 30 years. They bred, trained and raced horses as an avocation, owning more than 200 horses and foaling over 100 at the farm. They enjoyed the company of lots of neighborhood youngsters, maintaining associations with many of them over the years.

The greatest influences on her life, other than family, were certain teachers, the Harold T. Andrews Post, the American Legion Post Drum and Bugle Corps, Sis-A-Gie Camp for Girls, the League of Women Voters and the political life of Maine from 1950-2000. She had a keen interest in the environment, from being one of many voices in cleaning up Back Cove in the 1960s to serving for six years on the Maine Board of Environmental Protection, traveling throughout the State.

Mrs. Childs is survived by her children, Donna (Richard) Meiners, Michele (Robert) Flynn, Dana and William (Betsy); grandchildren, Jayme Rice, JoAnna Corey, Nora Meiners, Courtney Spoffard, Abby Meiners, Melissa Emerson, Maraga Flynn Martens, Ned Meiners, Brean Flynn, Dana Marie, Jessica, and Nicholas; and four great-grandchildren. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her daughter in-law, Sandy; and her sister, Joy Hight Williamson.

Relatives and friends may call at the Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home, 199 Woodford St., Portland, on Jan. 18, from 3-7 p.m. A memorial service will be held at Woodfords Congregational Church, 202 Woodford St., Portland, on Jan. 19, at 2 p.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Maine Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association Scholarship Fund, Care of Mike Andrew, 64 Flaggy Meadow Rd., Gorham, ME 04038 or to Riding to the Top, a therapeutic riding program for children and adults (a cause close to the donor’s heart), P.O. Box 1928, Windham, ME 04062.