Beatrice Chastain

Beatrice "Mema" June Combahee Chastain, 80, of Inman, died Friday, January 8, 2010 at Spartanburg Regional Hospital. She was the beloved daughter of the late Talmadge Woodruff Combahee and Clara Beatrice Bell Combahee Wilson and step-daughter of the late Hugh Humphrey Wilson. She was a devoted wife of the late Willis Martie Chastain who was retired from the Air Force. A native of Spartanburg County, she was a 1946 graduate of Spartanburg High School, a 1950 graduate of Winthrop College with a Bachelor of Science degree as a Registered Therapeutic Dietician and a 1968 graduate of the University of California with a degree in Elementary Education. Her career spanned a lifetime of many talents beginning as a Registered Therapeutic Dietician. She taught chemistry and nutrition to student nurses, was a consultant to the school nutrition program and also served on the school boards in London, England from 1952 through 1955. Her dietary career also afforded her the opportunity to contribute to the Space Program at Beale AFB in California. As a volunteer in her lifetime she served as a secretary to the American Wives Club in Tokyo, Japan from 1961 through 1965. She volunteered to teach English to the Japanese students. Her love for children guided her into the field of teaching which spanned 38 years from 1966 until 1994 when she retired from Boiling Springs Elementary School as a second grade teacher of Spartanburg County School District Two. Her love for family and history drew her to research her family genealogy. Her other hobbies included dancing "cutting the rug", choreography, classical pianist, cooking and most of all family and grandchildren. She left her family and friends with a legacy of love, happiness, faith, and humor. Survivors include two daughters, Lydia June Chastain Patterson and Glenn T. Patterson of Boiling Springs, and Susan Bea Chastain Hoy and her husband Michael B. Hoy of Chesnee; a son-in-law, Koger M. Bradford; seven grandchildren, Jarrod Wilson Thompson, Rachael Ward Hilton and her husband Phillip Hilton, Kathryn June Patterson, Michail Allen Ward, Lauren Elizabeth Patterson, Beatrice Grace Kennedy Bradford, William Walker Hoy; two great-grandchildren, Brayden Michail Ward, Kensington Grace Hilton; and a wonderful number of Bell and Chastain family members. She was predeceased by a daughter, Cynthia Chastain Bradford; and a son, Martie Clifton Chastain. Visitation will be held Monday, January 11, 2010 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Floyd's Greenlawn Chapel. Funeral services will be Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 2:30 p.m. at Floyd's Greenlawn Chapel conducted by the Rev. David E. Nichols. Burial will follow in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Bethel United Methodist Church Trustee Fund or Fellowship of Suffering Fund, 245 South Church Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29306; or to Mobile Meals Service, P. O. Box 461, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29304. Floyd's Greenlawn Chapel To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Beatrice "Mema" June Combahee Chastain please visit our Sympathy Store.