Guardian Angel Frets About Fate Of Joe Louis' Adopted Daughter

LAS VEGAS - In a city where boxers enjoy megabuck paydays, the crippled adopted daughter of boxing legend Joe Louis is doted over by a guardian whose greatest fear is the day she can no longer care for the girl.

Despite the concerns and their modest existence, fall is a very special time for Janet Louis Barrow, 15, and her guardian angel, Lauretta Holmes.

It was Thanksgiving Day 1979 that Janet emerged from a three-month coma after nearly drowning in a family swimming pool. The accident - and subsequent cerebral palsy - left her brain-damaged, crippled and unable to speak.

But the tragedies that left her marred physically have failed to break her spirit.

"I think Janet is going to be here for a while," Holmes said recently as she adjusted the girl's 54-pound frame in a wheelchair. "I think God is going to see to it that she's here for a while. She's a strong little girl, and she's got a will to live."

Lauretta Holmes won't tell you her age, just that she's "over 35." She was left nearly sightless by a stroke eight years ago.

She worries about the day she will be gone, and what will happen to the girl she has mothered much of the past 11 years. Her greatest dream is to have enough money so that she can see Janet is properly cared for when she is gone.

She fears Janet may someday be placed in an institution "and I couldn't stand having her in one of those places."

"I just love her so much, you can understand why I worry," she said, squeezing a frail hand that reaches out to her. "I want to make sure she's cared for. Then I can go away in peace, knowing someday she will come to me."

Joe Louis died in 1981, financially broke. He ruled the boxing world from 1937 to 1949, with many boxing purists considering him the greatest heavyweight in history.

But he was four decades ahead of the big paydays and probably made less in his career than many boxers now make in a single night.

Holmes met Louis in 1949 and recounts playing cards with him at the Pershing Hotel in Chicago. She later moved to Los Angeles and there met Louis' future wife, Martha. She introduced the two.

The Louis' took in Janet and three brothers and sisters in the 1970s, legally adopting them in 1980.

Holmes declined to talk about the real parents of the four.

Tragedy struck in the summer of 1979 when Janet, left unattended, fell into the family swimming pool.

Janet came out of a three-month coma Thanksgiving Day 1979.

"It was such a special day for all of us, and always will be," Holmes said. "We all had a big Thanksgiving celebration in her room."

Holmes helped raise Janet when Martha Louis suffered health problems after her husband's death. Mrs. Louis moved to Detroit in 1985 and died there last August. Janet has lived with Holmes since 1985, when she became the girl's legal guardian.

The two are struggling financially. They felt a pinch Nov. 30 when Janet's Social Security payment went up to $559 a month. That pushed her past the limit to qualify for Medicaid, Holmes said.

She wants a more comfortable wheelchair for Janet, but that's $3,800.

"The one she has now is just too painful," Holmes said. "She fights me every time I try to put her in it."

Physicial therapy and equipment that could help Janet use her frail limbs are out of reach financially for the daughter of America's boxing legend.

A column by Las Vegas Review-Journal writer John L. Smith brought some offers of assistance.

Janet's bright smile each morning makes Lauretta Holmes' day.

But the nights can be tough.

"I'm so very worried about what will happen to her," she said, her voice breaking. "I sit up some nights and cry. It's only me and her. And I don't want her to end up in an institution."