JANARI A RICKS

Janari Andre Ricks was born on January 27, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois to proud parents, Jalisa Ford and
Raymond Ricks. Janari took his heavenly journey to be with the Lord on July 31, 2020.
Janari was baptized at Union Baptist Church with his mother, and though only a little boy, he knew the
power and peace of God.
He attended Salazar Elementary School and was a rising fourth grader. At Salazar, he was loved by his
friends, teachers, Principal and the rest of the staff. Janari excelled in school. He was an honor roll
student and a math scholar.
Janari loved sports and played basketball and football as often as he could. The Golden Gate Warriors
was his favorite sports team and Steph Curry was his basketball idol. Janari had mad basketball skills on
and off the court. He was a left-handed shooter and had a crossover dribble that psyched his opponents
out every time; and could quote complicated sports statistics better than most adults and was always
willing to provide analysis on the latest games to anyone who would listen.
Janari had a passion for cars. And with the help of his dad, he had quite a model car collection. His
favorite car was a Ferrari and his daddy lovingly nicknamed him Janari Ferrari. His dad recently took him
and some of his friends’ go-cart racing - one of many adventures they experienced together.
Like many kids his age, Janari loved to play video games. When his mom finally beat him for the first
time in Fortnite, he swore she was cheating since he was the leading scorer on the block.
In support of his mom’s aspirations to eat healthier, he agreed to attend cooking classes with her and
together they had a great time learning how to prepare nutritious meals. From this experience and
others, Janari created a number of tik-tok videos that will forever delight his family.
Janari was blessed to have parents who knew the importance of spending quality time with him, and
create wonderful memories for all of them. He was a bright ray of sunshine in his parents’ lives, and they
truly adored him. Janari knew he was loved and cherished not only by Jalisa and Raymond, but his entire
family. In addition to his parents, he leaves to mourn his grandmother Denisa Ford; grandfathers Ronald
Henry and Ernest Bryant; great-grandmother Rosie Lee Simpson; sister Arianna Brown; aunts Latia Glass
(David), Denise Collins, Kenosha Ricks (Willie), LaTasha Ricks (Aaron), Ernestine Ricks, Rosie Ricks; uncles
Nathaniel Anderson Jr. (Erica), Ernest Ricks Jr., Shannon Ricks, Cornelius Ricks (Robinnette), Kenton Ricks
(Donna), Erskine Ricks (LaToya), Deonte Ricks (Darshay), Reggie Ricks and Raqkown Ricks; and a host of
great aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.
Janari was preceded in death by his grandmother Annie Ricks Bryant, great grandmothers Mattie Will
Ricks and Sarah Ford, grandfather Nathaniel Anderson Sr. and uncle, Andre Ford.
At the tender age of 9, Janari was already a legend in his family. His passing leaves a huge void in the
lives of all who were privileged to know him. His smile, courage, confidence, intelligence, leadership,
kindness, humor and creativity are forever etched in our hearts.
Janari is physically gone, but not forgotten. He made his mark.

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