Donald Philip Scarborough

Donald Philip Scarborough (Pancho) 73, passed away peacefully on February 14, 2019 in Jacksonville, FL. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Wilma Martin Scarborough, his daughters Susan Daugherty (Kent), Stacy Stathopoulos (Nick) and his son Philip Scarborough (Stacy) and his sister Lois Scarborough and sister-in-law Sherrie Martin Crowther.

His life lives on within his seven grandchildren: Frank, Patrick and Madison Daugherty; Parker and Ella Scarborough; and John and Philip Stathopoulos.

Born in 1945 in Bel Air, Maryland, he was raised by his Mother Melrose McGibney Scarborough. He graduated from Bel Air High School in 1963, and then served his country as an Army Sergeant in Vietnam from October 1968 – December 1969. After his honorable discharge, he pursued an education in criminal justice and received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Baltimore in 1974. His life long career was in law enforcement and he retired from the Federal Government as a Special Agent with the Inspector General’s Office in 2004.

While his career involved upholding the law, his passion was sharing the truth of the Gospel, which he lived each and every day. He did this effortlessly by giving his time, talents and resources to just about anyone who crossed his path. He did not believe in coincidences. He knew that every person he met in his life was placed there for a reason and many of them were the prisoners he met while serving in the Kairos Ministry.

After retirement, he lived his life to the fullest. He traveled extensively with his wife and was always up for ANOTHER "last family vacation." He was always up for new adventures like going out to sea on motor yachts, hiking dangerous terrain in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and traveling to Alaska.

He began writing poems and lyrics immediately after his return from a mission’s trip to the Dominican Republic. His wife will attest that he’d never written anything prior to this event. He found much joy in writing poetry and song lyrics and he loved sharing them with his family, friends and anyone who expressed interest.

A dream he never thought could happen came true when his pastor and friend Keith Pintar used & recorded his lyrics in the CDs "Now" and "Musicianary." Several of the songs were in a Christian movie titled "Winning Favor." Everything Pancho did, he did to minister the good news of Jesus Christ. His song lyrics and his poems have been played and read all over the world.

Pancho also loved animals, especially the dogs that shared his home and loved him unconditionally over the years; Meghan, Grace and Buddy could never have found a more perfect master.

As a young man, Pancho was able to walk on his hands and impressed many who witnessed this feat. He remained a strong man who could do fifteen one-arm pushups even into his 70’s. He considered himself a bit of a cowboy from his boots to his belt buckles. His man cave reflected his love for all things southwest, from paintings to his saddle. He loved horses and cars with horsepower. Pancho liked driving in style and appreciated the higher quality vehicles since most of his life he had clunkers.

He strived to live as healthy as possible and had a passion about all things health related. He always had a word of encouragement, a song in his heart and twinkle in his eye. He ALWAYS wanted more for others than he wanted for himself.

There are not enough words to describe the love he had for his wife, his children and his grandchildren. It was a selfless love that was felt strongly, deeply, and perfectly. He prayed for each family member every day and encouraged us to stay strong in the Lord and to "Keep the Faith and Walk the Walk."

His most recent passion and project was a children’s book based on one of his songs. This project was dear and very personal to him as another way to proclaim Jesus through having faith. Pancho was a Christian through and through and wanted everyone to know His Lord and Savior and to find peace in the promise of eternal life.

A celebration of Pancho’s life will be held March 30th, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. at Chet’s Creek Church located at 4420 Hodges Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32224.

In lieu of flowers, you can make charitable donations to the Scarborough Family Charitable Fund (Giving Account #1049956) make checks payable to Fidelity Charitable. For mailing instructions and for the tax deduction form and record purposes, visit https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/docs/Contribution.pdf. Your donations will support Pancho’s Children’s Book Ministry.

The family would love for you to log into the guest book and share a favorite memory of him and/or how he may have touched your life.

His celebration of life video can be viewed at: https://vimeo.com/342575254.

You may leave words of comfort and sympathy at www.Hardage-GiddensChapelHills.com. HARDAGE-GIDDENS CHAPEL HILLS, 850 Saint Johns Bluff Road North, Jacksonville, FL 32225, is serving the family.