Jacqueline Dillard

Jacqueline Ophelia Sartain Dillard, age 77, passed away peacefully Wednesday evening, May 11, 2016,
after a long fight against breast cancer. Queen Jackie as she was lovingly known to friends and family
was born in Madison County Georgia on January 9, 1939. She was the daughter of Lucy Jane Haggard
Whittington and Lewis Whittington and her natural father George Harry Sartain who passed away when she was a baby. She met the love of her life, James Ronald Dillard, as a child and married him at the age of 16 in 1955. Ronnie was the son of Mr. J.W. and Francine Dillard of Sanford Community. She then began a lifetime of caring and nurturing her family, having three children of her own but "adopting" hundreds more through her teaching, church, and extended friends and family. She never met a stranger and was never lacking a sense of humor or a word of encouragement. Her strength of character and walk with her Lord inspired all who had the pleasure of knowing her. She was a 3 time cancer survivor and just decided it was time to go home when the fourth round came. In her words " me and God had a talk and we agreed it had been too quiet up there and I needed to come on up." Mrs. Dillard was preceded in death by her husband in April 2002 and by her son Ronald Nathan "Nat" Dillard in December 2004. Jackie is survived by her beloved children, Mitzi Dillard, Courtney and Scott Cook, Jeanne Dillard, and Dr. Mikel Gray; her grandchildren, Drew Cook, Parker and Caitlyn Cook, Victoria and James Boatwright, Tripp and Becca Baker and her great-granddaughter, Anistatia Baker. She is also survived by her loving brother and sister in law, Steve and Cathy Whittington and her treasured lifelong friend Valerie McDougal and surrogate daughter, Norma Soni, and countless others. Visitation will be held at Lord and Stephens Funeral Home in Danieslville, Georgia, Friday, May 13, from 6:00 to 9:00 with a Life Celebration Service to be held Saturday, May 14, 2:00pm at Gordon's Chapel United Methodist Church, in Hull, Georgia. In Lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Gordon's Chapel Cemetery Fund or the American Cancer Society . To paraphrase one of her children, "Mama has spent 77 years writing her story and her passing is just a period at the end of a chapter before starting a new one."