"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life, you will have been all of these."-Dr. George Washington Carver (1864-1943)

Gene Elizabeth Hopkins was born in Jacksonville, Florida, to Lawton Eugene Hopkins of Columbia, South Carolina and Kizzie Elizabeth DeBose, a native of Gainesville, Florida on July 29, 1937. Her father was a chef on the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, and her mother was a domestic and nurse's aide. She spent most of her time, however, under the care of her maternal grandparents, Louise "Lula" Elizabeth Washington (née Taylor), a great cook, who sold dinners to Pullman Porters and Henry Washington, a local "ice man" who distributed ice for refrigeration to people in the local Jacksonville community.

Her lifelong commitment to education would begin with Mrs. A.B. Houston in a small community school and then to a wooden schoolhouse in the historic Black neighborhood, LaVilla, on Ashley Street. Nicknamed "Old Lavilla", she would study there from first through the sixth grade. From grades 7-9, Mrs. Chandler attended A.L. Lewis Junior High School, named after a prominent Black businessman and one of the founders of the Afro American Life Insurance Company. In 1952, she entered the ninth grade at Stanton High School on West Ashley Street, and then in 1953 she would complete the 10-12 grade at a newly built structure, New Stanton Senior High School on West 13th Street. Of note, Stanton was the city's first high school for African Americans in segregated Jacksonville.

She would graduate from Stanton in 1955 at the top of her class and maintained a deep and committed love for her alma mater, frequently attending alumni activities and events with her Stanton classmates for more than 70 years. In September of 1955, she would arrive "on the highest of seven hills" and begin her journey at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, Florida, later earning her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Education in 1959.

Embodying the motto of her beloved FAMU, "Excellence with Caring," she mirrored the institution's commitment to nurturing the individual needs of students through education.

She arrived in Jasper in 1959 and took a teaching position at J.R.E. Lee High School (1941-1970) where she taught business education. In the same year, she would meet the love of her life, Mr. Isaac Chandler, Jr., the "Negro county agent," over a spirited game of bid whist at the home of their matchmaker, Mrs. Linnie B. Hale. Isaac and Gene would marry on August 12, 1961 and forge a union which lasted for the next 54 years.

After a brief teaching stint at J.R.E. Lee, Mrs. Chandler dedicated more than 40 years to Hamilton County Public Schools as the media specialist/librarian at Hamilton County High School.

Committed to her community, particularly its children, Mrs. Chandler invested in local organizations intent on bettering the lives of those in Jasper and beyond. Honoring her husband's service in World War II, Mrs. Chandler was treasurer and member of the Bryant-Phillips American Legion Auxiliary Unit 215. She served as treasurer and member of the Hamilton County FAMU Alumni Association. She also served as a dedicated parishioner to her church, St Therese of the Child Jesus Catholic Church .. In addition to these organizations, Mrs. Chandler was a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She was initiated into FAMU's Beta Alpha Chapter on December 4, 1957.

For more than 68 years, this "Pearl" member provided timeless "service to all mankind" here in Jasper and in South Georgia as a charter member of the Kappa Eta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated in Valdosta, Georgia.

As a retired educator, it is not surprising that Mrs. Chandler was a voracious reader. You could always find her reading a biography of a prominent cultural figure or a book exploring some historic event. She passed on a love of reading and learning to not only her own children, but also to all the children she encountered along her journey. Additionally, Mrs. Chandler was a great lover of music-from classical to jazz to soul and R&B-citing.

Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, and Luther Vandross among her favorites. She also loved being a grandmother. She thought that she would not get the opportunity, but when her granddaughter arrived in her 70s, she often said she was "delayed but not denied." Mrs. Chandler frequently traveled to Virginia to see her granddaughter, a dancer, perform in various events, including her most recent visit to see her dance the lead role, Clara, in the Blacksburg Ballet's production of The Nutcracker.

She was preceded in death by two brothers - Willie Frank Shields (d. unknown) and Calvin "Eagle Eye" Shields (1924-2010), an accomplished jazz musician and drummer a son, Marcus Lionel Chandler (1962-1968), and her beloved husband, Isaac Chandler, Jr. (1922-2016). She leaves to cherish her life, her children, Marcia Elizabeth (East Point, Georgia); Isaac Eugene (Jasper, Florida); and Gena Elise (Blacksburg, Virginia); one granddaughter, Nyala Elizabeth Smith; and a host of extended family and sorrowing friends.