Darlene attended various churches of different denominations in her lifetime; however, about a year before she passed, she joined the Catholic Church. She was a member of St. Isidore the Farmer Parish in Brownsfield, Louisiana. She was a very devout Catholic with an extraordinary faith. Her funeral, conducted by the late Rev. Fred Youngs at St. Isidore, was beautiful and comforting. She was buried with her rosary which was a Mother's Day gift from her son, David.
In no particular order, a few of Darlene's favorite things were:
Color: Purple
Flowers: Daisies & Carnations
Foods/Drinks: Chicken Enchiladas; Lemon Meringue Pie; Powdered Sugar Donuts; Reese's Peanut Butter Cups; Garlic Bread; Pepsi; Iced Tea; Walnuts; McDonald's Fish Filet; Popeyes Biscuits
TV Shows: Star Trek; X-Files; 3rd Rock from the Sun; Highlander
Music: Elvis; The Everly Brothers
Darlene was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1997 after years of trying to get help for stomach problems. She went through radiation and chemotherapy and then seemed to be recovered or at least in remission. By the holidays in 1998, though, she started feeling sick again and discovered the cancer had returned. She did not want to go through any more treatment but she agreed to try and went through intensive chemotherapy that left her very sick and weak. She never complained and handled this final hardship with the grace and dignity with which she had carried herself her entire life.
She was given the news that she was terminal in the summer of 1999 and discontinued treatment. She passed away at Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge on September 16, 1999, surrounded by her children.
Darlene was a pretty lady. She was petite and claimed her height as 5'3 and 1/4". Her weight ranged from 105 to 120 pounds. She wore a size 7 shoe. She was fair skinned with blue eyes and brown hair. She had a smattering of faded freckles from her youth on her arms and legs. As a child, she had blonde hair which gradually darkened to brown. She usually wore her hair straight, often up in a ponytail. For special occasions, she would sometimes curl her hair by setting it in curlers overnight. Her hair began to gray in her late 30's and she would color it dark brown, sometimes with a hint of red. She always had long, pretty hair until her mid-40's when she cut it short because she didn't want a mess if the chemotherapy caused it to fall out. The first time she went through chemo, her hair didn't fall out but a year or so later, when the cancer came back and she went through chemo again, it did fall out.
She dressed conservatively but often wore flip flops unless she was at work. Her complexion was smooth and porcelain so she did not need or wear foundation but she did make up her eyes and wore blush and lipstick for some color every day. She never left the house unless she had makeup on and her hair was fixed.
Sometime around 1988, Darlene started looking for her first job outside the home. She was eventually hired at a frozen yogurt parlor. She enjoyed working and being out of the house interacting with the public. She often brought home frozen yogurt for the family to enjoy. Money was tight and she needed more hours and benefits, so she moved on to a job at Walmart a few months later. She started as a cashier but soon moved to the fabrics & crafts department which she enjoyed as she had spent years at home sewing and crocheting. Her last few years at Walmart, she worked in the customer service department. She made friends at Walmart and when she passed away in 1999, the store displayed a memorial of her with a large wreath and her picture in the middle.
When Darlene was about sixteen, she took a trip to California where she met Alexander John Estabrook. They were married October 1, 1970. While Alex worked, Darlene was home taking care of their children. Three of their children (Carrie, James, and David) were born in California. In 1979, the family moved to Louisiana where, in 1982, their youngest child, Jason was born.
Until about 1988, Darlene stayed home and took care of her children. She was a wonderful mother who kept an immaculately clean home, cooked supper every night, played games with and read to her children, baked birthday cakes, and was the center of her family. She was a patient, gentle, very kind lady with an elegant way of carrying herself and a proper way of speaking. Even though she spent the last twenty years of her life in the deep south, she never picked up a southern drawl and always longed for the mountains of her youth.
Darlene May Hart was born in Denver, Colorado to James Frederick Hart (1931 - 1991) and Shirley May Ely (Hart, Roberts, Key). She had four younger brothers (William, Michael, Danieal, and Jeffery) and a younger sister (Stefanie). When she was about twelve, she and her siblings were split up and she and her brother, William, went to live with her maternal grandparents, Chester and Lessie Ely, in Denver.
