Elmer Gene January

Elmer Gene January of Sanger, California passed away on Monday, February 27, 2023, at the age of 96. After suffering a severe brain injury from a fall in his home on February 15 ^th , and losing mobility on his left side, his health declined very quickly. Elmer died peacefully in his sleep 12 days later.

Elmer was born in Vernon, Texas on May 14, 1926, to Earl and Iva Mae January. He was the oldest of their four children, which included three sons and one daughter. Elmer graduated from Orosi High School in 1944. He immediately enlisted in the US Army on September 18, 1944 and was honorably discharged on April 17, 1946.

After leaving the army, Elmer settled in Seville,  CA and returned to cotton farming. It was during this time that Elmer and a friend, who was also competing in match racing events, trailered a horse down to Bythe , CA for a race. That friend was pursuing a romantic interest with a young lady there who had two sisters.  It was in Blythe that Elmer met one of those sisters, Charldean Brown. Elmer and Charldean were married in November of 1947 and enjoyed 58 years together until Charldean's death in 2006 .

Elmer worked in construction for about 3 years, until he traded their 80 acre cotton farm for the 43 acre ranch on Piedra Road, in Sanger CA. He continued to match-race horses for several years, while raising cattle on the ranch. He transitioned full time to horse training about the time Randall, their only child, began High School in Sanger. Elmer bred, trained and raced Quarter horses at first and then Thoroughbreds continually for the next 56 years. He was awarded a lifetime achievement award from Los Alamitos Racetrack as their longest tenured trainer.

Some of his most notable wins were the first Evangeline Downs Derby, 1947 won with the horse Tom Lydon. Elmer also saddled Best of Me to victory in the Kaweah Bar Handicap in 1983 and Manus Mark in the Marathon Handicap in 1984. He took the Bayer Legend California Challenge with A Mere First in 1996 and the Ivan Ashment Handicap with Classic Tol in 2004.

Over 500 wins were recorded over these decades as they raced throughout California's racetrack circuit and the various annual county fairs from Ferndale to Fresno.

Elmer was an avid fisherman, enjoying trout fishing in the Kings River and Sierra lakes and was also scratch golfer.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his brothers Pascal and Stanley, his sister Barbara Bartholomew , and wife Charldean. He is survived by his son Randall, granddaughters Charla Hughes and Sharon Taylor, and great grandchildren, Charlton, Charlie, Chase and Chandler Hughes.