AULANDER – Mr. Lindsey Bazemore Chamblee, Sr., age 83, died at the Brian Center and Rehabilitation Center in Windsor on Tuesday, June 21, 2011.

He was born in the Francis Mill community on April 24, 1928 to Arthur Chamblee and Annie Bazemore Chamblee.  He has lived at the same location most of his life except the years from 1945 to 1952.

Upon returning from service in the Army, he farmed the Bazemore Family farm until 1987.  During this time he also worked part time as a floral designer with the local florists in Aulander, Askewville, Ahoskie and Windsor.  He began working with the Jernigan’s Cleaners and Laundry in 1987 and worked there until 2010.

Lindsey B. Chamblee graduated from the Lewiston-Woodville School in 1945.  In 1949 he received the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religion and Education from Wake Forest College, Wake Forest, NC.

Mr. Chamblee was drafted for the selective service in November 1950 and served in the U.S. Army – 43rd Division in Camp Pickett, VA for one year and then he served in Germany for the second year.

He has always loved flowers and this hobby was increased by training and working in the Nosegay Florist in Washington, D.C.  Since returning from service in 1952 he has pursued this hobby by providing arrangements of flowers, many of them wild and homegrown, to Connaritsa Baptist Church.  He has devoted much of his life to activities in the various civic clubs in the area.  He was a member of the Aulander Ruritan Club and served in other club officer positions, being active in the Ruritans for over twenty years.

He joined the John Finch Early VFW Post #11226 of Aulander when it was organized and served as post quartermaster for ten years.

When his older son joined Boy Scouts Troop 128 in Aulander he became active with the troop. Mr. Chamblee served as Scoutmaster for many years and was active in the District area as a member of several Scouting committees. He was awarded the District Award of Merit, The God and Country Religious Award, and the Silver Beaver awarded by the East Carolina Council.  He completed Wood Badge training and received the Wood Badge Award.  He was elected to membership in the Order of the Arrow in the Council and received the Order’s Vigil Honor. His son Lindsey B. Chamblee, Jr., earned the Boy Scouts’

Eagle Award.

Mr. Chamblee has always found the time to be active in the Connaritsa Baptist Church, which he joined as an early teen.  He has served as the Sunday School Director many times, and as a teacher for the adult men’s class. He served on the building and grounds committee many times also, as the Brotherhood secretary and treasurer for thirty-four years, and on the board of deacons where he was currently vice chairman.  He has represented Connaritsa Baptist Church at the West Chowan Baptist Association on many of its committees.

Having lost his father, Arthur Chamblee, and his sister, Lula Mae Chamblee, to the disease of cancer, when he was diagnosed with cancer he sought treatment early and has been declared cancer-free since February 1999. He has walked in the Relay for Life in both the Bertie and Hertford-Gates Relays each year as a cancer survivor.

It was in junior year at Wake Forest College that he met Beverly Ann Lennon of Wilmington, NC, who was studying there in preparation to attend Nursing School at the Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC.  When Mr. Chamblee went to Washington, D.C. and during his time in the Army, they continued their relationship through correspondence.  After Beverly graduated from the Baptist Hospital Nursing School in 1953 their friendship grew into a love affair. They married on November 20, 1954 and moved into a new house that Lindsey built.  Beverly served as a nurse for a time at Bertie County Hospital in Windsor.

He was preceded in death by his mother, father, wife and sister. Survivors include his two sons, Lindsey B. Chamblee, Jr. of Norfolk, VA, and Aulander and John W. Chamblee of Aulander.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 24, 2011 at Connaritsa Baptist Church near Aulander with the Rev. James E. Hester officiating.  The interment will follow at the Bazemore-Chamblee Family Cemetery near Aulander.

The family will receive friends on Friday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Connaritsa Baptist Church just prior to the service.

Memorial donations may be made to the Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 22718, Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718.

Sykes Funeral Service of Rich Square is handling the arrangements and online condolences may be directed to the family at www.sykesfuneralservice.com.