Darlene W. Chastain, 62, of Fernandina Beach, passed away on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 11, 2017, at Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville.
Born in Columbia, S.C., she was the eldest of three children born to the late Billy Gene and Georgie Viola Melton Abel. As a young child, she and her family moved to Jacksonville, where she grew up and attended Robert E. Lee High School. As a teenager, the family moved to Nassau County, where she graduated from Fernandina Beach High School as class valedictorian. She later attended Florida Junior College, where she earned her associate degree in business management. Beginning in the late 1970s, she was appointed by the Jacksonville mayor’s office as an activist for and investigator of facilities caring for the mentally challenged citizens of Duval County. In the early 1980s, she was the voice of “Dixie,” a local disc jockey with WHOG radio in Fernandina Beach. In the ensuing years, she worked in the restaurant business – at the Wayfarer, the Thunderbird, Big Daddy’s Bar-b-Que and South End Bar-b-Que – as well as in the retail industry, most recently with Kangaroo Convenience Stores.
Ms. Chastain was an animal lover, and enjoyed crossword puzzles and strategy games, including rummy, dice and spades.
She had attended Five Points Baptist Church.
Mrs. Chastain was preceded in death by her mother, her father and a sister, Debbie Darlington.
She leaves behind two sons, Michael “Myke” Chastain and his wife, Kim, of Fernandina Beach, and Chad Jaynes and his wife, Shelly, of Yulee; a brother, Stevie Darlington of Jacksonville; grandchildren, Chad “CJ” Jaynes II, Chad Christopher Michael Jaynes, David Chastain and Tara “T” Chastain; a niece, Amanda Young; and a nephew, Billy Abel.
Funeral services will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, in the Burgess Chapel of Oxley-Heard .
Her family will receive friends on Wednesday at the funeral home from 5 p.m. until the hour of service.
Please share her Life Story and leave your memories and condolences at www.oxleyheard.com.
Oxley-Heard Funeral Directors