Algerene "Algie" Cleo Durrance St. John –

Our beloved mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and devoted friend, Algerene Cleo Durrance St. John, passed away peacefully on February 19, 2025. Algie was born August 27, 1932, in Lake City, Florida, to William Oscar Durrance and Cleo Dafner (Bullard) Durrance. Algie was a loving and devoted daughter and sister and a dedicated mother and grandmother.

Algie attended school in Watertown during her childhood and youth. She later married and moved to the Jacksonville area, where her two sons, William "Bill" Daniel Sauls and Martin "Marty" LeGrand Sauls, were born. For many years, she worked as a secretarial accountant for Houdaile Asphalt Company in Jacksonville before working for Anderson-Columbia Paving in Lake City, where she had the opportunity to work with her brother-in-law, Ted McRae. She was known as a loyal employee, a hard worker, and always a professional.

Algie served in many church organizations as a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. One of her favorite service opportunities was with the young women in her church unit while living in Jacksonville. During the most difficult times in her life, Algie always found comfort from her Savior, Jesus Christ, and the words of prophets found in the Holy Scriptures. She read daily from the Bible or Book of Mormon and always found peace through her faith in Jesus Christ. In 1990, when Algie's husband, William Edward Thompson Jr., died, she again turned to her faith in God and her children and grandchildren to sustain her through the following years. Algie deeply loved her family and often found consolation in her relationship with her siblings and friends, who helped sustain her through the following years.

Later in life, Algie met her husband of 22 years, Dell Hoke St. John Junior. Their courting was short and sweet. Both were widowed, loved to travel, and loved to dance. It wasn't long before Hoke popped the question, and the two sweethearts began their life together. Some of their favorite moments were spent in their "getaway" mountain home in the Smokies, dancing the waltz at the community dance centers, or off enjoying a Florida Gator or Jaguar football game, and attending PGA tournaments with Hoke's son. Algie described Hoke as the perfect gentleman who loved to shower her with gifts and hugs. Their years together were filled with sweet memories, deep love, and a fulfilling friendship.

Algie was preceded in death by her late husband Hoke of 22 years, her younger son Marty, two brothers, Vernon and Leroy, and three sisters, Evelyn, Cassie, and Adell. She leaves behind her son, Bill Sauls, daughter-in-law Sandra, two step-granddaughters, Elizabeth and Brianne, two grandsons, David and Stephen Sauls, a granddaughter, Meredith Choez (Diego), and three great-grandchildren, Oliver, Lukas, and Mila Choez. She also leaves behind her brother, Joe Durrance (Connie), and three sisters, Foy Andrus, Jean McRae (Ted), and Brenda Lovett (Harry), as well as many nieces and nephews.

As Algerene's family, we cannot express enough gratitude to the wonderfully kind management and staff at The Canopy Assisted Living and VITAS-Hospice. You have all blessed Algie's life with your tender love, kind words, and sensitive care. You have made Algie's life, and ours, so much sweeter in these last six months. She loved you all, and so do we. Thank you for all you did to bless her life and make her last days comfortable and pleasant.

Funeral services for Mrs. St. John will be conducted on Monday, February 24, 2025 at 12:00 Noon in the Gateway-Forest Lawn Memorial Chapel.  Interment will follow at Memorial Cemetery in Lake City.  A time of visitation with the family will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home on Monday, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 Noon.