Jamie Constance Obituary

Jamie Wyndham Constance, a cherished longtime resident of Santa Barbara, passed away peacefully on April 18, just weeks shy of his 96th birthday.

Born on June 14, 1929, in Tryon, North Carolina. Jamie was one of six siblings raised by their mother after the untimely loss of their father. Growing up during the Great Depression, Jamie learned resilience and the value of family early in life.

At the age of 16 Jamie was sent to live with family friends in Chicago. His mother saw his intellectual promise and realized he would be better challenged at the prestigious Oak Park High School, where he graduated with honors. Though encouraged to apply to Ivy League colleges, Jamie chose instead to move west in 1949, enrolling at the University of California at Santa Barbara - then located on the Santa Barbara Riviera - where he majored in Political Science and graduated in 1954.

Following college, Jamie served two years in the Army at the Presidio barracks in San Francisco before returning to Santa Barbara as one of the first graduate students at UCSB'S new Isla Vista campus. His career took him to National Silica in Arkansas and the Experiment in International Living, but he ultimately found his calling as a facilitator of business partnerships. Jamie was a devoted Christian Scientist all his life.

In 1980, Jamie met Marcia Woodward Hodges, beginning a wonderful, adventure-filled 41-year marriage. While he had no children of his own, Jamie was a beloved stepfather to Marcia's three children - Brett, Sharon and Brian - and a wonderful grandfather and great- grandfather.

One of Jamie's greatest joys was Chicora Wood Plantation. In the 1980s, while serving as a director of South Carolina's Litchfield Company, Jamie introduced Marcia to South Carolina and the Georgetown Low Country. During a visit, they were shown Chicora Wood Plantation, a prominent colonial and antebellum rice plantation that had fallen into disrepair and was being used as a seasonal duck hunting lodge. In March, 1984, they purchased the 1,000 acre property on the banks of the Great Pee Dee River. Together they embarked on an extensive restoration of the historic home and its outbuildings, transforming Chicora Wood into one of the most beautiful and meticulously restored plantations in the American South. 18 layers of paint were sanded down from the exterior of the house. Fragile plaster walls were stripped down to their original wooden laths. As Jamie recounted, "Those laths have absorbed the spirit of everyone who ever lived here".

For 35 years, Thanksgiving and Christmas visits to Chicora Wood were a highly anticipated family tradition. So many Santa Barbara friends were house guests over the years, and shared the beauty of the Low Country and Chicora Wood. No visit to Chicora Wood was complete without a candlelit dinner in the home's formal dining room where Jamie loved nothing more than melodiously ringing his wine glass and with his impeccable North Carolina diction giving an eloquent toast honoring all attendees, but most of all to his beloved wife, Marcia.

Jamie had a deep passion for American and British history and possessed a remarkable memory for family genealogy and history, a gift that remained with him throughout his life.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 41 years, Marcia Constance; his stepchildren Brett Hodges (Natalie), Sharon Bradford (David), and Brian Hodges (Laurance); his step-grandchildren Ryan Hale, Eliot Hodges, Lillie Hodges, Charlotte Hodges and Romeo Hodges; his step-great-grandchild Remi Hodges; his sister Myrna and her husband Danny Edwards, sons Eddie Edwards (Joni), David Edwards (Tallas) and daughter Kathy Belue. Jamie's life was marked by love and dedication to family and history. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.