Jane Downing Chandler, age 90, died at her home in Augusta on April 1, 2018, after a prolonged illness.
A graveside service will take place on Tuesday, April 10,2018 at Summerville Cemetery at 11:00 a.m. Following the service, her family will receive friends at the home of Bleakley and Susan Chandler at 2323 Kings Way in Augusta.
Mrs. Chandler was preceded in death by her parents, John F. Downing and Myrtle Coons Downing, her sister, Elizabeth Downing Crawford and her younger sons, Edward Warwick Chandler and John Downing Chandler. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Arthur Bleakley Chandler, her son, Dr. Arthur Bleakley Chandler Jr. (Susan) and her grandchildren, Arthur Bleakley Chandler III, Edward Ford Molloy Chandler and Elizabeth Murfree Chandler.
Mrs. Chandler was born in Savannah, Georgia on May 14, 1927. Her husband Bleakley’s family has lived in Augusta for many generations and, coincidentally, Jane’s grandmother, Kate L. Stoughton Coons, was born in Augusta, making Jane a third-generation Augustan. She was a graduate of Louisville Collegiate School in Louisville, Kentucky and Connecticut College for Women.
Jane and Bleakley shared a full and happy life together for sixty-four years. Jane was an active and enthusiastic participant in community life. She was a founding member of The Augusta Symphony Guild and an early and staunch supporter of Historic Augusta. She was a member of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, The Colonial Dames of America, the Sand Hills Garden Club, the Sundial Garden Club and the Medical Alliance of Georgia. An accomplished writer, she published a biography of Dr. G. Lombard Kelly, the first president of The Medical College of Georgia, a number of articles on local medical luminaries as well as histories of several local organizations.
A visitation will be held at Platt’s Funeral Home at 721 Crawford Avenue in Augusta from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m on Monday, April 9, 2018.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to The Church of the Good Shepherd, 2230 Walton Way, Augusta, Georgia 30904.