Ramona Martin Chastain

Born: August 15, 1929
Died: January 11, 2012
Visitation January 14, 2012 at 10:00 am Highland Park Church of the Nazarene
Service January 14, 2012 at 11:00 am Highland Park Church of the Nazarene

Ramona Martin Chastain, 82, passed away on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at her home in Lakeland, Florida, due to heart failure. Ramona was preceded in death by her beloved husband, James Roy Chastain, Sr.

She was a native of Lake Wales, graduated from Lake Wales High School in 1947 and married Roy Chastain in 1948. The couple moved to Gainesville, FL while Roy studied Civil Engineering at the University of Florida. Upon graduating they settled in Lakeland, FL, where Roy was a principal at Chastain-Skillman, Inc. with business partner, Joe Skillman.

She was a devoted wife and mother, especially known in the community for being a great cook and hostess. She was also a founding member of South Florida Heights Church of the Nazarene (now Highland Park Nazarene) and stayed active in the church for 55 years.

She is survived by her sons, Jim Chastain and his wife, Nancy Chastain, of Lakeland, FL, Randy Chastain and his wife, Pam Chastain, of Nolensville, TN and Ed Chastain and his wife Marta Chastain, of Tampa, FL, grandchildren, Brian Chastain (Jessica), Kelly Chastain, Lauren Presson (Scott), Jay Chastain, Courtney Chastain, Cari Chastain and Kate Chastain, great-grandchildren, Hailey Chastain, Braden Chastain, Blake Chastain and Hunter Presson, and sisters, Doris Welch of Waldorf, MD and Laveda Rogers of Atlanta, GA.

A funeral service will be held on Saturday, January 14 at 11:00 a.m. at Highland Park Nazarene, 4777 Lakeland Highlands Road, Lakeland, FL. The family will receive visitors at the church prior to the service at 10:00 a.m. Donations in her name can be sent to Highland Park Nazarene.

Taken from Doris Martin Welch bio, "My Saga" published in 2007:
A. RAMONA EVELLA was born on August 15, 1929. We lived on Wetmore Street in a big two-story house with a big front porch. As mentioned earlier, we enjoyed the big bag swing tied to the nearby porch.

Mother started her hand laundry here, hiring black women to help her, paying them by the hour, with Dad providing their transportation to and from Negro Town. When Ramona was little, Ozella, a large chunky lady, and Fannie, taller and thinner, worked in our home. Fannie did a lot of the cooking and was especially attached to Ramona. When Dad would take her home, Ramona would cry to stay with her. Ramona had a fat little belly, and one day someone asked her what was in that belly, and she said “bikits”.

After Ramona was born, it was my job to help entertain her until Merrill got home from school. She always got cranky in the afternoon, so Mother would put her in her carriage, and I would have to push her back and forth in the living room until Merrill relieved me.

In about 1931, Mom and Dad moved to Polk Avenue on the west side of town. Our neighbors were the Wisemans and the Martins. About this time Dad lost his school teaching job, as the schools were requiring more education than he had, and he couldn’t afford to return to college (there were none local anyway). He was unable to find work, so he helped mother with the laundry.

As Ramona got older, she and I had much fun together. We both loved playing with our dolls and dollhouse, pretending we were grown-ups. I once got mother’s empty vanilla flavoring bottle, filled it with water, which Ramona then drank. As older children are prone to do, I often made things up which she believed, and told her to do things that she sometimes got in trouble for.

When she started school, she was too shy to play with her peers. Mother made me find her at recess and lunchtime and go play with her. I didn’t like leaving my friends to do this. Finally, she got a little more used to the other first graders and I could return to my activities.

Ramona was always very daring. We lived near the lake and she learned to swim early. When she was only about 9, she joined Merrill and me swimming across Twin Lakes and back (at this time, the lake was quite large). Also about this time, she and I decided we would try a new venture. Our neighbor had a boat pulled up on the shore of the lake. Since we had never handled a boat before, we decided it would be exciting to try to row it across the lake and back. We sneaked it into the water and after experimenting with the oars, finally managed to get it away from the shore. Ramona guided with the oar on one side, and I the other. We managed to get it about halfway across the lake when a big wind came up. We thought we better try to get back, as storms come up suddenly in Florida, and we may be capsized. We rowed furiously and it seemed we were merely treading water. We did make some headway by making deeper dips with the oars-our arms were about to break. We finally did manage to get back, pulled it up on the shore, and ran home before the storm broke. We never did tell anyone about our scare, nor did we try that again.

Once we decided to try to find out if it was true that there was a strip of land between the twin lakes, as we had heard. We went past Dad’s big garden and fruit trees, which abutted the city land surrounding the lake, and headed into the strip of land. Now, this was overgrown with weeds and the ground was black “muck”(mud). We were going further and further, and when our shoes were bogging down in the muck, we decided to take them off and try to get through anyway. After a while, the muck was coming up to my knees and it looked like we had a long way yet to go, so we decided we better give it up as a lost cause and head home. When we got home, we were a mess. Ramona, being shorter than I, looked terrible, her dress covered with black muck, and both of us having black legs. When Mom found out where we had been, she reprimanded us, and warned there were water moccasins back there. We decided there really was a strip of land going between the lakes, but never did prove it.

We had lots of fun playing under the three huge oaks near the lake at the east side of our property. We made a playhouse there, dividing the area into a living room, bedroom, and kitchen under two of them, and making a bedroom under the other one. We used orange crates for seats in the living room, for cabinets in the kitchen, and for shelves in the bedrooms. We used old springs Mother threw away, and pulled moss off the trees for the mattresses. Every morning we would go down and rake under the trees, making a pathway we must walk in, so as not to mess up the “floor”.

One day I got the idea I would write and produce a play. I summoned all the kids in the neighborhood to act in it. I wrote all the parts, helped each with his part, and then directed it-three acts. We set the date, wrote little flyers up inviting the parents, and made costumes out of whatever we could find. The big day arrived-we were so excited! We borrowed chairs from home, carted them down to the “playhouse”, and then put on the big production. The kids really did well. After it was over, we served cookies and kool-aid. We spent countless hours on this endeavor and everyone who saw it complimented us on it. In the play, Ramona and Mildred’s brother, Palford, were married.

When we played under the oaks, our cow was often staked out nearby. When the cow urinated, we would say someone turned the water on. Ha. Merrill and some of his buddies built a “tree house” and walkway in the top of two of the trees (over the living/kitchen area), but didn’t like us girls going up there. It was really neat, and I’m sure they had much fun keeping tabs on what we were doing below. Ha. One night I invited the neighbors to spend the night with Ramona and me in the playhouse. We got permission from our parents to do so, and got all our gear together. Ramona and I were going to sleep in one bed and Mildred’s sister Merle (older than us) and cousin, Betty Sue, were going to sleep in the other one. Palford was going to make a pallet in the kitchen-he was there to protect us girls. Well, before the big night, Merle backed out. We went ahead anyway and built a little campfire and told ghost stories until quite late and then hit the sack. Betty Sue (Ramona’s age, 8), got scared and we tried to comfort her, shining our flashlights all around. Palford even said he would sleep with her (they were 2nd cousins). She was quiet for a while, but then started crying again, and wouldn’t stop, so we took our flashlights and walked her up the path to her house. Palford then took over that bed and we went back to ours. Early in the morning before daybreak, Ramona let out a yell. I grabbed the flashlight and looked around our bed-our cat was jumping at her feet under the covers. We went back to sleep, got up the next morning, and cooked our breakfast over our campfire, and returned home. That was the one and only night spent under the big oaks.

One day we had been swimming in the lake behind our house, and Merrill and a couple of the neighbor boys had been fishing. We were all walking home along the path across the back of the property, the boys ahead of us girls, with their fishing poles over their shoulders. The boy ahead of Ramona stopped and she kept walking, going right into the fishing pole with its end going into her eye. She came home and didn’t say anything to Mother right away, but the next day she could hardly see out of it. The eye specialists were in Lakeland and Tampa, but we were short of money and the folks wondered what to do. About this time, one of the wealthy ladies Mother did washing for, was talking to Mother and learned of our plight. She called her eye specialist in Tampa and made an appointment for Ramona. Dad took off work and I went along. His prescription for about three days was to keep ice packs on the eye constantly, along with medication. I stayed by her bedside keeping the ice to it. After several more visits, the eye got better (I never did know if he operated on it). He said if we had not gotten her to him when we did, she could have lost her eye. The lady friend picked up the doctor’s total tab.

Ramona always loved babies. She would go bananas when Jr. and Mildred came over with their little ones, or the neighbors brought their babies over. She seemed to have a knack with them that I never did have.

In high school, Ramona was in the Honor Society and got along well with her peers. She loved cooking and spent lots of her time in the kitchen (she is a great cook and we always look forward to her meals). I was more the outdoors person-always liking to help Dad and Mother in the yard or garden, doing repair jobs or carpentry around the place. She was never much for camping, where I loved every minute of it, thoroughly enjoying nature and its creatures (I loved biology).

One night a week Dad would have “Singspiration” where he would invite the choir over and teach them to sing parts for the services. Thus Ramona and I learned to sing parts, and sang together. Laveda joined us when she got a little older.

Ramona always felt neglected. She thought I got preferential treatment because I was the eldest, and Laveda because she was the baby of the family. I got my cousin Jeanette’s dresses passed down to me from A. Vera, and Ramona got my hand-me-downs. When she finished wearing them, they were worn out, so Laveda had to have new clothes. It truly was hard for her, being the middle child, but being poor had its disadvantages. We had more arguments about our clothes as she got older and could wear my size, than anything else. On the whole, though, we were very compatible and even had folk’s remark that we got along too well to be sisters. I know I surely missed her when I left home to get married, and was really excited when Mom treated her to a trip to Md. to visit us for her graduation present. (Once, she and I were out in the back by the woodpile when she asked me, “Doris, if I lay my head on that block of wood, would you chop it off for me?” Of course, I would not!)

Ramona had a wonderful sense of humor and you never knew what she would come up with. Once, we were with Mother in Lakeland shopping (Lake Wales did not have much of a shopping center then-too expensive) and a big wind came up which blew mother’s hat off. It, having a wide brim, went rolling down the street and under a man’s car. I started chasing it and finally crawled under the car to retrieve it. Ramona quipped, “Mother, I don’t know why you wear that hat, anyway-you look like a barrel with a lid on it.” One evening, when about 13, she started in with her quips and got Mother to laughing so hard and for so long, I became frightened.

Ramona was very strong for her age-she had hair on her arms much longer than mine. Dad used to say it was a sign of her strength and called her “Harrietta”.

We often had folks over for Sunday dinner and afternoons in between the church services. Mother always relied on me to play the piano and entertain them while she and Ramona got the meal together, or cleaned up the kitchen after eating. Ramona got very upset about this, as she thought I was purposely trying to get out of helping.

Ramona often got into trouble for speaking her mind. Once she sassed mother while mother was running clothes from the washing machine into the rinse water, and mother gave her a pop with her wet hand that left imprints on her cheek.

Ramona and I helped mother with the hand laundry. Usually Ramona helped run the clothes through the rinse waters, and I hung them on the clothesline. Once Ramona was pushing the clothes into the wringer when one of her hands went in too. Her arm was quite a ways into the wringer before mother could cut the machine off and release it.

After the boys returned home from their war service, in about 1947, there was a larger selection of boys to choose from. One day Roy Chastain came to the house to do a plumbing repair job and she fell for him. She asked Merrill to introduce her to him-it was love at first sight. (Roy’s father owned the Lake Wales Plumbing Company.) Merrill made the introduction, and they started dating. I believe Roy had graduated from Lake Wales High in 1941 and enlisted in the Navy shortly thereafter.

Ramona became the bride of JAMES ROY CHASTAIN on August 8, 1948 at the Lake Wales Church of the Nazarene. I did not get home for the beautiful wedding, but Gayln and Marietta, living in Arkansas, did. Mildred was Matron of Honor, Marietta, Laveda, and Roy’s sister, Jewell, were attendants, Lucretia and Claravella were flower girls, Roy’s cousin, T.C. Collins, was his best man, and ushers were Jr., Merrill, Gayln, and Roy’s brother, Harold. Roy’s twin brothers, Doyle and Donald, lighted the candles. After their honeymoon, they resided at the Wales Court Apartments.

Roy continued working with his father in the plumbing business. They bought a small home about two blocks from us. Here JAMES ROY CHASTAIN, JR. was born on August 21, 1949. They put in a little garden and were most content. Roy was very protective of little Jimmy, never leaving him with any one to watch.

Roy put in an irrigation system from the lake behind our house to Dad’s garden. Because of this great improvement, his garden became much more productive. Roy decided plumbing was not an occupation he wanted to make a lifetime career of, so he enrolled at the U. of Florida and he and Ramona moved to the Flavet Apartments there in 1950. CHARLES RANDALL was born here July 7, 1951. Roy was going to school fulltime and working in his spare time at the sewage disposal plant at Gainesville. It was very difficult to try to keep the two little boys quiet when Roy was able to get a little rest, but Ramona, as usual, managed it very well.

Roy completed four years work in three years time (plus summer schools) and graduated in August 1951 with a BS in Civil Engineering. They moved to Lakeland where he got a job with Lakeland Engineering Assoc., Inc. He stayed with this firm, later buying it out with another associate, naming it Chastain-Skillman, Inc. It became a very successful business, later opening up branch offices in Wauchula and other small nearby towns. They achieved quite a reputation and had many jobs in the neighboring towns. Roy was retained by Lake Wales in 1968 to expedite a workable program for a HUD housing project there, and as the city planner, worked with Lake Wales on its Revitalization program, among his many other projects. Their son Jim went into the business after his college education and continues on as owner to this day.

On February 3, 1957 Roy and Ramona bought a home on Glendale Street where EDWARD LEE was born June 24, 1957.

Ramona was kept busy during the boys’ growing up years, running them around to their many sports activities (track, football, basketball, swimming, etc.) They were star basketball players (all being tall). They usually had cats-in 1968 they had two, both of them with litters. Since Roy worked just around the block from their home, he usually came home for lunch, which Ramona always had on the table waiting for him. (They visited us in Maryland in August 1969.)

When the boys were old enough, Roy had them working in his business, paying them wages for their work, which helped fund their college education, and taught them the business too. Jim thus went from college into the business, but Randy moved to Bradenton where he started training to become #2 man at First Federal Bank of Bradenton. Roy’s brother, Harold, was an officer there and helped Randy get in. Randy went from this job on into a real estate development project. Eddie never returned to Lakeland after college, going directly into chemical engineering jobs, which have taken him to various parts of the country (S.C., Texas, Iowa, and currently, Tampa)

In May 1978, Roy was sawing the boys’ old goal post down in their back yard, when it fell, causing the chain saw to cut his hand severing the tendon on his middle finger, and partially severing the ring finger tendon, going into his arm bone a little. This was very painful and handicapped him for quite a while. However, that summer Roy, Ramona, and Eddie did manage to take a 4-week vacation out west (Los Angeles, Texas, Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Canada, Colorado, Missouri, and Georgia.) They had a grand time.

After their son Randy, started building developments in Bradenton, Roy and Ramona bought a condo at Mr. Vernon with a beautiful view of Sarasota Bay out their front door, where they could watch the fish jumping, sail boats on the water, the birds, and the bridge opening for boats to pass under it. They even saw an occasional raccoon. Ramona decorated it in Florida colors: yellow and greens. (When Randy built other developments in Bradenton, she bought other condos and a house from him. When he got out of the business, she however, sold these off). Ramona continues to own this condo and rents it out during the winter season.

In 1980, Roy started having health problems. He had an operation for hemorrhoids and when he continued having problems, the doctor ran more tests and discovered he had cancer (about Sep-Oct). His health steadily declined, even though he was undergoing many treatments and medications. Finally, Roy died February 7, 1981. We all miss him-he was a loving husband and father, a good businessman and provider, a good Christian and church worker, a leader in the community, and a help to our family on many occasions.

After Roy’s death, Ramona determined that she was going to run her own life and not be a burden on her children, family, or friends. (Since about 1979, Ramona and Roy went with about 27 church friends to Franklin, N.C. on vacation in the summers. About four had summer places there.) In 1981, Ramona bought a house in Franklin within walking distance of two of her friends, and moved there for her summers in May 1982. She renovated and redecorated it and the surrounding yard and woods. It became a beautiful mountain home with a separate apartment in the basement for visiting families/children, play equipment in the yard, a bar-b-q building down the hill in the woods, with beautiful shrubs and trees in the yard. She had birdhouses dotting the trees and enjoyed watching different species at the feeders. It was a delightful place everyone enjoyed visiting. A number of her church friends bought near-by properties, and they constantly did things together, even to getting a new Nazarene church organized in the area.

Over the years, it got less and less use, as the children scattered or were unable to get up there much, and many of her friends died, sold, or had health problems curtailing their treks north, so Ramona sold the place.

Ramona loves entertaining, and does it in real style. Our family always looks forward to enjoying her delicious meals and the elegance of the table. She is very artistic. When Mother was living, Ramona would get some flowers from her flowerbed and make the most beautiful arrangements. After she married, she used her skills to decorate, paint, and do antiquing, re-upholstery, ceramics, gold leaf, make dolls, sew clothes, etc. She is noted among the family and friends for her excellent taste in dining and décor. When Laveda graduated from high school, Ramona helped throw a party, making white and black graduation hat favors and sandwiches rolled like diplomas. She used her culinary skills when her boys were wed and loved every minute of it. She continues to entertain at Christmas and New Years with elaborate spreads for her family and friends

When Ramona was a youngster, Mother complained about how hard she was to please-Mother would go to Lakeland shopping and often Ramona did not like, nor would she wear, the things Mother brought home for her. It got so bad, Mother refused to buy her anything unless she picked it out. When Mother brought home purchases for Laveda and me, we were delighted to have something new to wear.

In August 1997 Ramona was in N.C. when she had an abscessed tooth infection, which traveled, into her knee. Her friend Betty McDaniels, took her to the Emergency room at the hospital and they wanted her to undergo surgery. She wanted to go to the Lakeland hospital, so they put her on antibiotics and Betty drove her to Tifton, Ga. where Jim and Nancy met her for the trip to the Lakeland Hospital. On Aug. 30th, she underwent an operation that removed 3” of bone at her knee, and also did a tooth repair. She went into a nursing home for 2-l/2 weeks, then back to the hospital for a concrete spacer in her leg and a cast from her toe to her crotch. Friends temporarily moved in with her to help with her care, then she had physical therapists making house calls through October. She faithfully did her exercises until she could manage on her own. Though she has trouble doing much walking, she amazes everyone with her agility.

To sum up, I would say Ramona is doing great. Even though she misses and yearns for Roy, she cherishes the memories of their wonderful years together and knows she will never find another to replace him, though her friends keep trying to find someone who may interest her. She has moderate assets, which she manages well. She is always planning ahead, and remains determined to prove herself in every situation. She sold her home on Glendale Street after it was broken into several times when she was in N.C., she moved into a mobile home park, had a mobile home altered and added on to, and she lived in that for several years until the park was condemned due to the sewer system. This mobile home was moved into another mobile home park, still in Lakeland, again relocated according to her specifications. It was quite roomy, and tastefully decorated, with an attractive yard, but the hurricanes of 2005 did quite a bit of damage to its roof. In the end, she decided it was more prudent to move into a sturdier house. In the spring of 2007 she moved into her new remodeled home in Jim’s neighborhood. She is active in her church, has many friends, and now lives close to Jim, and her son Ed and family live in nearby Tampa. She is well adjusted and happy, and is a great sister we are all proud of.


RAMONA’s CHILDREN:

1. JAMES ROY CHASTAIN, JR. was born August 21, 1949 in Lake Wales. Jimmy was a very studious and serious little boy and made good grades all through school. He was also very interested in sports, playing basketball, softball, and running track. In June 1956 he was temporarily set back when a car hit him, but fortunately only received a deep gash in his forehead. Jim was tall, practiced shooting baskets a lot in his back yard, and became a star basketball player. In Jan. 1967, he was co-captain of the Lakeland Dreadnaught’s basketball team-Randy was also on the team. Jim graduated from high school in June 1967. He worked for his Dad in his summers, earning money towards his college education and learning the business.

Jim received a $600 track scholarship to the University of Florida, which kept him busy running track, participating in meets and traveling. He did not let this interfere with his studies, as he maintained a very high point average all through college. When he was chosen to be a member of the leadership fraternity Omicron Delta Kappa Squires Honorary Fraternity, he had a 3.0 average. He also joined the Lambda Chi Alpha social fraternity in 1968, his first year. In 1969 he was elected secretary to his fraternity. In his summers, besides working for his Dad, Jim worked with the young people of his church, leading them in spiritual matters and helping get things organized. He got his B.S. degree in 1971 and because of his high scholastic average, landed a government scholarship, which paid his tuition and $200/month towards his Masters Degree in Environmental Engineering, which he received in 1972.

After graduation Jim returned to Lakeland and went to work in his Dad’s business and bought and moved into his own home. Ramona helped him with the painting, paneling, and decorating. After getting settled into his own place, he got an AKC Irish Setter to keep him company.

With a home and a dog, he still needed something more to round out his life-a wife. That business was settled on Feb. 14, 1976 when he married NANCY VIRGINIA McDONALD, a dental assistant/technician. In May of that year, Jim and Nancy bought a new home in a nice area with a lovely large yard and double car garage.

LAUREN MICHELLE was born on Feb. 13, 1980, JAMES ROY III (JAY) on Dec. 4, 1981, and COURTNEY ALICIA on Nov. 19, 1987. All the children were beautiful, Lauren and Courtney having long blonde hair and beautiful eyes. Jay has darker hair and was very active when young. All the children inherited eye trouble requiring several operations to help correct their vision. The children were all very polite and healthy, and Jim and Nancy were model parents. They have always been actively involved in church activities. (Lauren went with the youth group on a mission trip to Chile.) Lauren graduated from UF and got married in 2003. They are buying a home down near Ft. Lauderdale where he works for D.O.T. and she works for the United Way. Jay completed his education at the University of Florida and is working at a car dealership in Ft. Walton Beach.

Jim’s business continues to grow and enjoys a great reputation. He has constantly furthered his education to keep on the cutting edge of technology and business. In Dec. 2004 he received his Doctorate in Public Health-his many and varied duties require extensive travel.

2. CHARLES RANDALL was born July 7, 1951 in Gainesville. Roy and Ramona relocated here from Lake Wales when Roy enrolled at the U. of Florida in 1950. Randy was very husky, very affectionate, and a good baby. Ramona would simply put him in the playpen and he entertained himself by the hour. When he entered first grade, he had a little trouble with his reading. Glasses and Ramona and Roy’s working with him soon corrected this. Randy always had a good sense of humor and was fun to be around. He did well in school and was always popular.

Randy was always thinking ahead. When a little fellow, Ramona found a lot of paper bags stashed in his bedroom. She asked Randy why all the bags were under his bed. He informed her he was saving them so when he grew up and had his own grocery store, he would be prepared.

Randy, like Jim, was also very sports minded. In 1967 he went out for football and became a tackle the next year. Also he was on the basketball team. In June 1969 Randy graduated from high school. He also worked for his Dad over his summers and the money earned went towards his education. In the fall he joined Jim at the University of Florida. Right away, he made a name for himself and was elected Freshman rep. to the student council. He found politics interesting and in 1970 became an aide to Fla. Senator Chiles who was running for the U.S. Senate. Chiles was known as the walking senator-he walked 1,000 miles from the Fla. Panhandle to Key Largo. Randy would drive ahead in the camper bus, using speakers to announce Chiles’ arrival. In Oct. 1970 his social life picked up-he was handing out linens in a girl’s dorm. In 1971 Randy was on the speaking team and going around the state speaking and politicking. Also that year, he got a little MGB and was penned to Pam, also a student at the university.

On August 5, 1972 Randy wed PAMELA JEANNE SMITH at the Christ United Methodist Church in Hastings, Florida. Randy earned his MBA from the University of Florida in 1974 and moved to Bradenton soon thereafter. In 1977 Pam and Randy both became Christians and joined the Nazarene church there. The church was in the process of relocating and building a new church on 15 acres of ground, the first phase of which cost a little over $2 million. Randy was named chairman of the church’s building committee.

While working at First City Federal Savings and Loan for four years, he served as vice president in charge of commercial land and also as president of the thrift’s service corporation, First Environmental Service. This gave him a full understanding of how to structure deals financially and get a first-hand view of what made people successful and unsuccessful in land development.

After enjoying a successful career financing many of the early condo projects in the county, he decided he wanted to cash in on the county’s condo boom. He joined longtime developer Gil Waters as general manager of Mount Vernon on Cortez Road. There he learned the nuts and bolts of the building business. This, with his MBA education and knowledge of real estate, gave him a chance to implement what he had learned. Waters, needing some fill for the Mt. Vernon project, purchased the uplands area off Cortez Road that included Tidy Island. Randy and Waters began planning Bay Lake Estates in early 1979. When the economy took a downturn and interest rates began to soar in late 1979, Waters began selling the parcels to Randy.

In Nov. 1979 Randy formed his own development company, Chastain Development Corporation (CDC) and, with the backing from First City Bank, finished the Bay Lakes project at 8800 Cortez Road. This was a $12 million subdivision of 140 single-family homes built around five man-made lakes. About this time, he and Pam bought a beautiful new home with pool right on the Bay, where they enjoyed casting nets and rod and reel fishing off their dock. They also got a nice boat, which they docked off their back yard.

Randy’s next project was Bay Hollow, a 4.2 million project consisting of 40 condos located on a saltwater canal just south of the Bay Lake subdivision. At the time, First City needed to build up its real estate arm and CDC was the vehicle to do so.

His third development was a boating community, the Waterway at 9604 Cortez Road. This was a $10 million project consisting of 78 condos, which was completed in Dec. 1981. Also in March 1981 when interest rates soared and the housing market slumped nationwide, he managed to sell out a 42-unit condo project, $4.6 million in real estate, Bridgeport, in five days. These condos ranging in price from $80,000 to $135,000 were not even built yet and he clinched the last sale for the project one month before workers were even scheduled to turn the first shovel of dirt at the Bradenton Beach construction site. He did this without placing any ads-only word of mouth referrals. In spite of the bad economy and high interest rates, from Nov. 1979-June 1981, he put together a portfolio of Manatee County waterfront projects valued at more than $30 million.

Randy’s fourth development was Summer Sands, a $5 million project of 40 condominiums ranging in price from $145-150,000, on Anna Maria Island, styled in the European tradition.

Randy formed a sister corporation to CDC, Chastain Professional Development Corporation, and in 1982 built the Condominium Office Plaza on Manatee Avenue West, a main 4-lane, east-west artery accessing both U.S. 41 and U.S. 301 in a residential and light commercial area. These condos provided business ambiance with the elegant touches of innovative architecture and custom-finished interiors.


Randy’s last and biggest Bradenton project was the purchase and development of Tidy Island, which he bought from Waters in May 1982 for 1.5 million. When he proposed building an upscale condo community there, environmentalists balked. The pristine 263-acre island in the middle of Sarasota Bay was a county landmark with as much Indian history as mangroves. Undaunted, Randy redrew his plans to accommodate them and the Manatee County Commission. The Commission approved the design unanimously. Randy had done his homework-he researched for 2-3 years. There were no islands like them in either Manatee or Sarasota counties. He knew how he wanted this big project to turn out and was very meticulous about it. He donated 150 acres to the University of South Florida/New College for a nature preserve, hired archeologist Bill Burger to come in and study portions of the two burial mounds, return them to their original condition, and set up two private museums to feature the Indian artifacts and a few of the skeletons, along with historical photos and antiques from the 1800s to give a glimpse of the early homesteads and what Indian life was probably like on the island. This 3-acre mound area was dedicated as a park. CDC built a $300,000 bridge to the island with a 24-hour guard, and installed a series of culverts to allow adequate flushing. (He also picked a choice location for his future home.)

Tidy Island homes were not like the mid-priced condos of his former projects. These were large townhouses and single-family homes fetching upwards of a quarter of a million dollars each. Randy acknowledged the outlook for the upscale real estate then was not great, but his optimism made him believe that would turn around. The 138 planned unit development, estimated to cost $28 million when completed was financed with a $6 million initial loan from Equibank in Pittsburgh, Pa. That was in addition to the $1 million interest First City had in the project. The project enjoyed early sales success with seven of the eight models sold in 1984. After the models, each home was constructed on a pre-sold basis, meaning Randy had to get a loan each time to construct a new unit, creating a lag time from the time the loan was made until the home was built and the new owner paid CDC. Meanwhile, unsold units at CDC’s other projects also required substantial interest payments.

Crossland Savings bought out first Federal on Oct. 1. They wanted to pull out of the real estate deals. Now CDC was having all manner of cash flow problems, so Horizon Federal Savings Bank from Ill. purchased the unsold portions of Tidy Island in Dec. 1985 for $11 million. This did not pull Randy out, as there were still all the debts from his other loans. What began as a dream in the late 1970’s of turning swampland into a Shangri-la, dissolved and left Randy with a trail of unpaid debts and bankruptcy. Court papers filed indicated he owed 62 creditors more than $8 million, however Randy contested some of these debts and paid most of the rest off with the real estate backing the mortgages. Two factors grew beyond his control: a sudden surge in interest rates that pushed his borrowing costs (loans fluctuated with these rates) beyond the ordinary, and the collapse of the second-home market. Property values in the area decreased by as much as 50 percent because of too few buyers and too many units. The waterfront market had a valuation loss of between 25 and 50 percent. Randy learned a good deal from this experience, and is using that knowledge to guide him. He said, “I have experience, ideas, I’ve learned, and I’m teachable.”

Randy moved his family back to Lakeland and accepted a very lucrative salaried job developing almost a city in itself, on the outskirts of Lakeland. The site was built on former phosphate-mined land, which was sitting idle for years, and Roy, before his death, had begun to study ways to make the area productive and useful. It was owned by a wealthy family in Alabama who had never ventured into anything like this. After Roy’s and Jim’s firm did many studies, and after many contacts with the owners over the years, the owners were finally convinced the firm’s idea of a community there was feasible. Since they had the money and Randy had the know-how, things moved right along, and the mini-city was built at Lake Hollingsworth. It is gorgeous with scenic drives, jogging trails, man-made small lakes with water fountains, little tow-path bridges, houses, condos, office buildings, shopping centers, etc.

Randy and Pam have two children: BRIAN LEE born Jan. 27, 1977 and KELLY ANNE born May 10, 1979. Both children were very popular and excelled in sports, winning sports scholarships to Middle Tennessee University in Murphysboro. To be near their children, Randy and Pam sold their house in Lakeland and moved to Tennessee where Randy began investigating the housing market. He, Ed, and Jim pooled their money and bought acreage near Nashville. Randy is going full steam ahead in the development business there.

Brian completed his education, got married on May 26, 2001 to JESSICA, and they have a daughter, HAILEY MAY, born Oct. 10, 2005. Brian works with his Dad. Kelly graduated in Dec. 2001 with a degree in microbiology. She teaches school and coaches basketball. They all like Tennessee, their jobs, their homes, the area, the people, and their future outlook there. We are sometimes fortunate to see them at the Easter reunion in Lake Wales. We are glad to hear they are so happy.

3. EDWARD LEE was born June 24, 1957. He was always very popular with his peers and made good grades. In 1968 he was in an advanced class, making 4 A’s and 2 B’s. As a young boy, he and a friend started their own business--mowing lawns. He was very excited in 1969 when he bought his own self-propelled mower. Ramona wrote, “You would think Ed has just bought his first new car. The other boys think he is crazy to spend all that money ($145) for a MOWER.” In 1970 with his earnings, he bought an electric guitar and amplifier, and was playing with the youth church orchestra every Sunday night. Also this was the year Ed started playing football-he injured his shoulder, hurt his jaw, and broke his nose. In 1971 he was on the 1st string basketball team. With his earnings this year, he bought a new $600 stereo. Also in 1971 he was elected president of his Honor Society. The next year he received another football injury, spraining his wrist. In 1974-75 he served as Student Council President, was the homecoming king, and had a leading role in the school play. He graduated from high school in June 1975.

Ed went on to the Univ. of Florida and there continued achieving excellent grades, scoring a 3.7 average the last quarter. He graduated from UF in June 1978, with a degree in Chemical Engineering.

Ed married a friend he had grown up with in the Lakeland Nazarene Church, LAURA LU GRINER on Dec. 16, 1978. He and Laura moved to Spartanburg, S.C. where he had a job with Milliken Mills, and Laura with Southern Bell as a communications expert. They bought a 2-story house shaped like a barn, and got golden retriever dogs. Ed and Laura began having marital problems and after quite a few sessions with a marriage counselor, decided their marriage could not work. They divorced in 1985, Laura moved to Atlanta and Ed moved to Dallas with Monsanto.

Ed soon bought a house, then met and fell in love with a girl from California, MARTA LYNN LEE. They were married in August 1986 in California. Marta is very intelligent and a top-rate systems engineer. They both work for IBM in very responsible jobs. For many years their jobs had them located in Texas, Iowa, etc. so we are delighted they are now close by in Tampa.

Ed and Marta two daughters: CAROLINE ELISE (Cari) born April 5, 1990, and KATHERINE LEE (Kate) born Nov. 20, 1994. Both of the girls are top-notch students and involved in all sorts of activities.

They reside in a beautiful home in Tampa, and are buying a condo overlooking Sarasota Bay in Bradenton. Marta and the girls are very involved in the Christian Science church activities, where Marta teaches Sunday school among other duties.

They get over to see Ramona and Jim and family quite often and we get to see them at the Martin reunion at Easter-time. We have enjoyed getting better acquainted with them there, and hail their successes and happy life.