Elene Chastain

Elene S. Chastain died at home October 1, 2018. She is survived by her 5 children, 6 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren, and nieces and nephews and their families. A daughter of Manilla Patrick Sparks and Fred Milton Sparks, Elene graduated from high school in Gadsden, Alabama, and from college at Jacksonville State University, where she majored in mathematics and French. She was awarded a teacher’s scholarship to study abroad, and spent a year in Grenoble, France, and traveling in Europe (1949-50). She returned with a goal of sharing the beauty of France and the French language and culture with her American students, which became her life’s passion. Elene married a fellow JSU alumnus, C. Shelton Chastain, and the couple moved to Colorado, where they both taught in public schools and attended graduate school at the University of Colorado at Boulder. After full-time childrearing, Elene taught French at the high school in Alamosa, Colorado. The family then moved to DeKalb, Illinois, where Elene taught French at DeKalb High School for 23 years. Madame Chastain sponsored the French Club at DHS, through which she helped students raise money to travel to France. Elene organized trips to tour various regions of France and chaperoned her students on these many trips during spring breaks. After retiring from the DeKalb School District, Elene and her husband (retired from Northern Illinois University) moved to a lakefront home in Ashville, AL. Elene then taught French at the Episcopal Day School in Gadsden, AL, and began accompanying younger students of French (and their parents) on trips to France. She also provided her students with exchange opportunities with French school children and their families. Shelt Chastain, Elene’s husband of 52 years, died in 2002. Elene fully retired from teaching French 6 years later, at the age of 80, but continued to travel widely, including to regions of the world that were new to her. She completed her final trip to Europe in 2013, which included visits with dear friends in Belgium and in Paris and Niort, France. Elene is remembered as a devoted wife, a loving and highly energetic mother, grandmother, and aunt, a joyful optimist, a dedicated and tireless teacher, a beloved friend, and a true Francophile. Her family will celebrate Elene’s life through a future memorial service. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the International House at Jacksonville State University.