Fay B. McEachin's Obituary
Patricia Fay Burdette McEachin 87, of Leesburg, Florida, passed away on November 11, 2015.
She was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on July 14, 1928. She was the daughter of the late Henry Clayton and Annie Phillips Burdette, and P.F. (Felt) Chapman. Fay graduated from Jeff Davis County High School in 1946 and from the Piedmont Hospital School of Nursing, in Atlanta, in 1949. She married the late James Harold McCard in 1950. They lived in Atlanta and raised three children together. She went back to working part-time as a registered nurse at Piedmont Hospital when her children no longer needed her to be at home fulltime.
Fay returned to Hazlehurst in 1977 and married her home town sweetheart, John H. McEachin. She loved being his wife and the stepmother to his three children, Johnny, Barbara and Tommy.
Following John’s sudden death in the fall of 1978, she moved to Valdosta, where she worked as a nurse at South Georgia Medical Center and volunteered with the Hospital Auxiliary, serving as its president for a year.
In 1995, she relocated to Eustis, Florida to be near her daughter Cathy and her family. She enjoyed more than a decade of independent apartment living until her mobility declined to the extent that she could no longer live on her own. She resided in several assisted living facilities before moving to Blue Haven in Leesburg, a loving home that is run by caring people. When her heart began to fail, the wonderful staff of Blue Haven, in collaboration with Cornerstone Hospice, cared for her until she died.
Fay was a member of the Bay Street Baptist Church of Eustis.
She loved going to the movies. When her children were young, she often piled them into the station wagon for an evening double feature at the drive-in. In her last years, she used a wheelchair to be able to continue going to theaters. She knew almost everything about her favorite stars and enjoyed reading the latest Hollywood news and gossip. She subscribed to People magazine for many, many years.
Fay also loved going out to eat with her children and grandchildren, especially at Red Lobster, where she could order coconut shrimp, her favorite dish. She was not a big fan of Mexican food, but Fay always ordered a Margarita when eating in a restaurant.
In addition to her husband John, Fay was preceded in death by her son, Stephen Clayton McCard of Atlanta.
She is survived by her daughters: Vicki McCard of Dahlonega, Georgia and Cathy (Buddy) Buie of Eustis, Florida. She is also survived by three half-sisters, two half-brothers, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
No funeral service is planned.
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