Week of December 21, 2016

Funeral services for Mr. James Wesley Mingo of Darlington was conducted 12:00 o’clock noon Monday, December 19, 2016 at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Darlington.

Interment will follow in Darlington Memory Gardens directed by Jordan Funeral Home, Inc.

Mr. Mingo was born in Darlington County a son of the late Ms. Eva Mingo.

He died on Wednesday, December 14, 2016.

James attended the Darlington County Public Schools. He was employed by Georgia Pacific in Darlington retiring from the company in 2002 after 35 years of service.
James is survived by his wife of 59 years, Florence; five sons, Gerald (Roberta), Gregory (Sharon) both of Darlington, Reginald of Columbia, S.C, Wayne, of Ft Bragg, N.C, and Marvin of Los Angeles, CA; one sister, Cedelle Dupree of Charlotte, N.C.; three half-sisters, Nora Koonce (Wesley), Alma Lucas of Lamar, S.C., Lula Bacote (Villo) of Patterson, N.J.; four half-brothers, Isaiah McClain and McKenzie McClain (Carolyn) of Kinston, Lavern McClain (Judy) of Charlotte, N.C., and Oscar B. McClain of Newark, N.J..; twelve grandchildren, Quaderlyn Hanna, Dante Howard, Jessica Jean-Baptist, Chelsea Mingo, Chandra Mingo, Morgan Mingo, Gavin Mingo, Guy Mingo, Jarvis Mingo, Jamison Mingo, Seth Mingo and Giana Mingo; and a host of nieces, nephews, great-grandchildren and cousins.

The family is receiving friends at the residence, 205 East Wine Street, Darlington.

Dolly James Brown Coker Cross, affectionately known as “Granny”, age 90, entered Heaven on December 13, 2016. She is survived by her children, Elaine Moore of Evergreen, Ann Humphries (Henry) of Darlington, Naomi Player (Michael) of Darlington, Larry Coker (JoEllyn) of Aiken, Bobby Coker (Phyllis) of Aiken, Danny Coker of Scranton, and Yolanda Courie of Columbia. She is also survived by her step-children, Kay Seibert, Vickie Miller, and Jocelyn Shupe; 22 grandchildren, and 30 great-grandchildren.

Dolly was born at Cusaac’s Crossroads in Florence County, the youngest child of James DuRant and Bertha Vause Brown. She married L.J. Coker in May, 1944. They raised their children and lived a wonderful Christian life together for 34 years until L.J. passed away. She later married Russell Cross, another Godly man, in 1980. Russell predeceased Dolly.

Dolly’s faith and family were her life and loves. She was happiest when she was with her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces, and nephews. She was dedicated to Temple Free Will Baptist Church and served as a Sunday school teacher, choir member, and President of the Women Nationally Active for Christ. She was the first female elected to the church’s Board of Trustees. Dolly was passionate about foreign missions, especially the mission work in India and Ivory Coast. Two churches were built in her honor in the foreign mission fields. She was also passionate about cooking, the Clemson Tigers, and her extended family of friends. All were welcomed to her home – no one left hungry.

The family would like to thank all the doctors, nurses, and medical staff for their care of Dolly.

The family received friends from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Friday, December 16th at Belk Funeral Home. A funeral service was held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, December 17th at Temple Free Will Baptist Church followed by burial in Grove Hill Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to Temple Christian Academy, 1660 N. Governor Williams Highway, Darlington, S.C. 29540, or Foreign Missions, c/o Temple Free Will Baptist Church, PO Box 287, Darlington, S.C. 29540. Memorials also may be made to McLeod Hospice Foundation, PO Box 100551, Florence, S.C. 29502-0551. (www.mcleodfoundation.org)

A guestbook is available online at www.belkfuneralhome.com.

Lucas McIntosh Dargan, 99, husband of the late Frances Edwards Dargan, died at his residence on Wednesday, December 14, 2016.

Born in Darlington County on July 18, 1917, he was the son of the late Rosa Evans McIntosh Dargan and William Edwin Dargan. He graduated from St. John’s High School, Class of 1934, and attended North Carolina State University for two years, then transferred to Utah State University where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Wildlife Management in 1938.

After graduation Mr. Dargan was employed by the Colorado Game and Fish Department where he conducted population and habitat studies of sage grouse, beaver, and mule deer, and later by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Pautuxent National Wildlife Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland, where he established a forestry management program for wildlife. In 1942 he was commissioned a naval officer and served aboard the USS Livermore with the Atlantic Fleet. At the conclusion of World War II he returned to Darlington and was employed as a forester for the Ingram Dargan Lumber Company until 1950 when he became a consulting forester serving clients throughout the Pee Dee and Low Country until his retirement in 1997. He once estimated that he had planted more than one million trees during his career.

Mr. Dargan was active in numerous natural resources organizations, including the SC Farm Bureau where he served as Chairman of the Forestry and Natural Resources Committee, and as Chairman of the Forestry Advisory Committee of the American Farm Bureau Federation. He also served as a Commissioner of the SC Water Resources Commission, and as a member of the SC Governor’s Advisory Council on Natural Resources, a board member of the SC Forestry Association, and most recently as a board member of the Black Creek Land Trust. He was one of three Commissioners appointed by the U.S. District Court to establish the value of the 14,000 acre Bidler Forest, now known as the Congaree National Park, which he described at the time as “the finest original-growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the South.” Throughout his professional career he published numerous articles on forestry related topics, and is often quoted for his exceptional knowledge of forestry and natural resource matters.

Mr. Dargan was a lifelong communicant of St. Matthews Episcopal Church and as its troop Scoutmaster he was a recipient of the Silver Beaver Award. He was also active in local, regional and state historical societies and was well known for his knowledge and recall of genealogical information. He was a member –emeritus of the St. Andrews Society of Columbia, and was instrumental in re-chartering the St. David’s Society in the Pee Dee in 1977, which was originally established in Society Hill, SC, in 1776, to provide a free school and library for its citizens, serving as the first president of the re-established organization. He was also a member of the Washington Biologists Field Club for over 70 years.

In May, 2011, he was honored by the S.C. Wildlife Federation at its 80th anniversary celebration as one of 15 Leaders in Conservation throughout the state.
In 1948 he married his childhood friend and classmate Frances Edwards Culbertson at Wrenfield Farm near Mechanicsville, and they celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary in October, 2011. He was also predeceased by his brother William Edwin Dargan and sister-in-law Annie McCullough Edwards Dargan; his sister Mary Hart Dargan McIver and brother-in-law Evander Roderick McIver, and his sister Rosa Evans Dargan who died in infancy. He was the last survivor of his 46 first cousins.
He is survived by their four daughters Jacquelyn Hackett Culbertson Adams and her husband Patton of Columbia; Amanda Dargan Zeitlin and her husband Steven of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY; Sarah Edwards Dargan of Darlington; and Rosa McIntosh Dargan Powers and her husband Alan of Vilas, NC; nine grandchildren: Thomas Patton Adams and his wife Savorn of Fairfax, VA; John Hackett Culbertson Adams and Lucas Dargan Adams both of Columbia; Benjamin Harold Zeitlin, Eliza Dargan Zeitlin and Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo all of New Orleans, LA; Teresa Lucia Cornejo of Charlotte, NC; Dargan Graham Powers and Aidan Edwards Powers, both of Vilas, NC. Four great-grandchildren: Thomas Patton Adams VII, Richard Anthony Adams, John Hackett Culbertson Adams, Jr. and Nathan Jenkins Adams, as well as a large and loving extended family.

Graveside services were held on Tuesday, December 20, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. in Grove Hill Cemetery.

Family and friends are invited to call at the residence, Longleaf Farm, 1124 South Charleston Road, Darlington, following the service. Belk Funeral Home of Darlington is assisting the family. A guestbook is available online at www.belkfuneralhome.com.