Neta Strickland

NETA ELAINE DURRENCE STRICKLAND

August 3, 1946—February 13, 2022

Elaine Strickland entered this world with her strong, loving personality on August 3, 1946, and left it peacefully in her sleep on February 13, 2022 at home in Townsend, Georgia.  Elaine, or Laney as she was affectionally called by her family and close friends, was born the third daughter of Lonnie Harris Durrence and Ernestine Mixon Durrence in Glennville, Georgia.

She attended school in Glennville until her sophomore year when she moved to Southern California with her mother to be closer to other family members.  There she graduated from Bolsa Grande High School where she was active in the renowned Bolsa Grande Chorale, touring with the group to U.S. cities, Hawaii, and Europe.  Blessed with a God-given voice and love of music that continued all her life, she, along with son Lee and sister Marilyn, fulfilled the dream that many performers have when they sang in concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Elaine and her husband, Warren Domenick and their two sons, moved from California back to Glennville in the 1980s. She worked as a teacher’s aide in Glennville and later, after her marriage ended, she attended nursing school in Charleston, South Carolina where she spent several years working in a school setting as a special needs teacher’s aide.  She found this work very rewarding but also difficult.  There she met and married Wayne Kendrick.  After Wayne’s untimely death, things came full circle when she reconnected with her first love— her high school sweetheart, Danny Strickland—and she once again returned to Glennville.

Elaine had a wicked sense of humor and was an inveterate storyteller and mimic; she had a mind for trivia and could often recall details most others couldn’t.   Time spent on her porch, usually with a cadre of friends, included lots of laughter, long stories, jokes and sometimes even tears.

Elaine is survived by her husband, Danny Strickland and her two sons, Father Lee Domenick (Jeff) and Jarrod Domenick (Sandra), two stepchildren, Jennifer (Jason) and Marc (Cristan). She is also survived by three grandchildren, Taylor, Jennifer (Tracy)  and Daniel; three great-grandchildren; two sisters, Marilyn Durrence Moore (John) and Betty Ann Durrence Laurs (Michael); five nieces and nephews as well as several grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

Laney was very much loved and will be sorely missed by us all.  Some measure of light has certainly gone out of the world with her passing, but she must be making heaven laugh by now.

It was Elaine’s wish to be cremated.  A celebration in honor of her well-lived life will be held at a later date.

Care and Service are entrusted to Brannen Kennedy Funeral Home of Glennville, Georgia