JEAN DYKES, LOCAL BUSINESSWOMAN, HAS PASSED AWAY

The native of Crawfordville owned a restaurant and liquor store

Jean Dykes passed away Friday. Her obituary appears on Legacy.com

By LYNDA KINSEY Staff

Jean Dykes passed away on Friday, June 30, surrounded by family. She was 88.
I just saw her two weeks ago going into the Quick Stop in Crawfordville. That makes me think about seeing her several months earlier and her telling me about buying $100 worth of $1 lottery tickets. She said that I should do it at least one time because she had so much fun scratching all of those tickets.
For those of you who are not familiar with this strong-minded woman, she grew up in downtown Crawfordville. Over the years she has told me so many stories about growing up in this very small town with mostly just dirt roads, where kids could be kids and play outside and you didn’t have to worry about the things parents worry about today. There were more freedoms for children and they played outside all the time with the neighborhood kids. She talked about swimming a lot at Wakulla Springs.
She was born in 1935 in our nation’s capital and the family later moved to Crawfordville. Her family owned the H.T. Adams gas station and store that was torn down a few years ago – located across from Pet Stop on Crawfordville Highway in downtown Crawfordville. It was the hub of Crawfordville back then, offering hot meals, groceries and vegetable that the family grew on their property down Arran Road. I believe she served beer to the soldiers when she was 12.


Jean Dykes and friends, playing bingo at the Seineyard.

Listening to her talk about life growing up in Crawfordville. It always sounded so innocent and like she grew up in Mayberry. She absolutely loved Wakulla County, growing up here, and the great respect she has for neighbor and the people who live here and love it as much as she does.
She fell head over heels for a young man when she was just a teenager. Jimmy Dykes was the love of her life. In stories she would tell, it sounded like of her life. In stories she would tell, it sounded like she set her sights on him and was determined that he was the one. That is Barbara Jean Moore Dykes in many aspects of her life. I loved listening to her tell the story of how they eloped and got married in Thomasville after Jimmy found out that he was drafted into the service. They were going to keep their marriage a secret. They were married for over 56 years.
I remember Jean would come into the paper several times over the years and bring pictures and stories to run an ad in memory of Jimmy after he passed. She spoke so highly of him and as she wanted to place these tributes to him, she wanted others to remember him. She also knew that placing this memorial tribute to him in the local paper that it would also be archival so that people a hundred years from now could also know who he was and also for their family generations.
She loved to talk about being in the restaurant business in the building across from Ace Hardware. (Ace was not there during this time period.) Listening to her, it never really seemed to be all about the money but more about how proud she was to offer a service to the community. With that said, she really was a strong businesswoman and entrepreneur. I really don’t remember many stories about the gift shop or the liquor store, she seemed to talk to me about the restaurant the most. She so has wanted a restaurant to thrive in the location of her past restaurant.
She also has had smaller businesses that she would advertise with me from time to time.
I enjoyed sitting at her table and talking about her ad, then chatting about her life growing up in Wakulla.
Another story is when she realized that I smoked cigarettes, she told me she would not advertise with me any more until I stopped smoking. It wasn’t that she was trying to be demanding, she really thought that may help me quit. Again, that was Jean, she wanted me to stop and she wanted to steer that. She might have been a little bossy at times but it was generally something for your own good.
Jean would seem to always say something kind, have a smile and I especially enjoyed seeing her sitting with all the ladies at the Seineyard at Wildwood playing bingo.
When we launched The Wakulla Sun and the Sun Monthly, we wanted to do a story on Jean and her life growing up in Wakulla. In July of last year, we asked her for an interview and she somewhat declined and said she was not ready. But I know where she lives! So, I went to her house and knocked on her door, we sat down at her table and I tried to convince her to do the story. She wanted me to do the story for her. That is really the reporter’s job and I thought that the reporter would do a much better article for Jean anyway so I had to convince her.
I remember thinking, “How am I going to convince this strong-willed woman to consent to doing this?” But I did! She wanted to know if the reporter was from Wakulla County. I told her that Charity, our reporter at that time, was originally from Woodville but that she and her family had lived here for a long time and that she graduated from Wakulla High School. Somehow that made it better for Jean and she finally said to have the reporter call her.
Jean Dykes was the featured person in the August 2022 Sun Monthly.
I have known this family for many years and feel  connections in different ways. Jean would tell me she loved me and say I was family, just like she called Jewell Hudson “Uncle Jewel.”
Please keep Jean and her family in your prayers during this time.
I’m sure I could go on and on about this great Wakulla gem whom I have enjoyed over the years, but I think I would like to hear stories from others too.
If you would like to write a memory about Barbara Jean Moore Dykes, I would love to read it. You can email it to editor@thewakullasun.com or drop it off at the Sun office, 12 Arran Road, the building with the awnings on the courthouse square.