Obituary for Charles Wendell Lancaster

MR. CHARLES WENDELL LANCASTER, age 83, of Jacksonville, FL, and formerly of Eastman, GA passed away peacefully at his home on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.

 Funeral services will be held at 2:00PM Friday, March 21, 2025, in Southerland Funeral Chapel, with Rev. Stewart Joiner officiating with interment in Lancaster Cemetery in Pulaski County.

 Wendell was born on July 6, 1941, in Hawkinsville, GA in Pulaski County and was raised in the Midway Community. From an early age he learned to work on the family farm and helped support the family. He attended Dodge County High School and then continued to work until 1958 when he married Joyce Blankenship Lancaster. A year later in 1959 he enlisted in the United States Navy and was sent to boot camp in San Diego, CA. Mr. Lancaster was first stationed at the Naval Air Station in Norfolk,

Virginia and later in New Jersey. In the coming years their children were born, first a daughter, Terri, in 1959 and in 1961 the family welcomed their son, Keith. During his time in service Wendell traveled around the world aboard several ships including the USS Enterprise and the USS Forrestal. In 1963 he relocated his family to Cecil Field in Jacksonville, FL which later became the Naval Air Station. Many of his later years in the Navy were spent in Jacksonville where he and his family became very active at Marietta Baptist Church where he also served many years on the Deacon Board. After a 20-year career in the US Navy, Wendell retired and moved back home to Dodge County in the late 1970s and began a career at Robins Air Force Base as a civil service employee, where he worked for the next 14 years. In the early 1990s he purchased a Kenworth Semi Truck and began work as an independent truck driver hauling freight for many companies for over 6 years. He then moved back to Jacksonville so that he and his wife, Joyce, could be closer to their grandchildren, before retiring in the late 1990s. He was a dedicated husband and a loving father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, and uncle who was loved and will be missed by his family. For many years while living in Dodge County he attended Eastman First Baptist Church and was a dedicated part of the church family and in Jacksonville he was a member of Evangel Temple Assembly of God where he worshiped his Lord and Savior. He was the son of the late Mattie Cothern Lancaster and Cullen Bartlet Lancaster and was preceded in death by his son, Charles Keith Lancaster, sister, Juanita Lancaster, brother, Cullen Bartlet Lancaster, Jr., and his sister-in-law, Kathleen Lancaster.

 He is survived by his Wife of 66 years – Joyce Blankenship Lancaster of Eastman, GA and currently residing in Jacksonville, FL; Daughter – Terri Lancaster Weaver (Gary) of Jacksonville, FL; 5 Grandchildren – Justin Weaver (Stacey) of Coconut Creek, FL; Jared Weaver (Elizabeth) of Macclenny, FL; and Jordan Weaver, Joel Weaver, and Jennifer Weaver Dykes (Taylor) all of Jacksonville, FL; 11 Great Grandchildren (Kaela, Drew, Cullen, Liam, Grace, Levi, Ben, Rhett, Luke, Kathleen, and Kate); Brother – John E. Lancaster of Hilton Head, SC; Brother-in-law – Rex Blankenship of Eastman, GA; Daughter-in-law – Tresa Stewart of Jacksonville, FL; Epiphany Weaver (mother of Rhett and Kathleen) of Nicholson, GA; Nephews –David Lancaster of Hawkinsville, GA, Lee Alan Lancaster (Amanda) of New Point, IN, Kevin Lancaster (Meredith) of Valdosta, GA., Jonathan Blankenship (Heather) of Brunswick, GA, and Blake Blankenship of Eastman, GA; Nieces –Lynn Lancaster Ingram (Robbie) of Hawkinsville, GA; Laurie Lancaster (Lauren) of Hilton Head, SC. Lauren Shields (Carl) of St. Simons Island, GA.

 The family will receive friends in Southerland Funeral Chapel from 1:00PM – 2:00PM, one hour before services on Friday, March 21, 2025.