Darlyce M. Eley
04/22/1955 - 12/15/2020
Celebration of Life Services will be held on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. at Mount Comfort Mausoleum, 6600 South Kings Highway, Alexandria, VA 22306.
Interment will follow immediately after the Celebration of Life Services at Mount Comfort.
Face coverings are mandatory as Social Distancing policies will be enforced. Please cooperate funeral staff directions,
OBITUARY
IN MEMORY OF DARLYCE MELINDA ELEY
“Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.” Psalms 145:13
Darlyce Melinda Eley was born in Norfolk, Virginia on April 22, 1955 to Melvin C. Eley and Florence B. Lomax Eley. She was the third of five children, and also the first of two daughters.
Darlyce attended Largo Senior High School in Largo, Maryland. She was recruited by The U.S. Department of State straight out of high school and began her working career as a GS-3 Secretary/Stenographer in the Bureau of Economic Affairs. While working at the State Department, she attended Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) in the evenings in order to further her education.
Her time with the State Department covered more than 40 years, during which she went on to serve in several offices and positions as well as overseas. Throughout her career, she received numerous awards and commendations in recognition of her exceptional performance, leadership, and personal dedication. She especially enjoyed living and working in the Netherlands during a portion of her career. Before retiring, her highest rank of service was a GS-14 Branch Chief in the Bureau of Administration, where she worked on “Special Projects” in the Information Access Branch. She retired August of 2016.
Darlyce’s life was not all work. She had a great love for sports, travel, music, shopping and more. Her favorite football team was the Dallas Cowboys since the late 1970s. She attended a number of NFL games, tennis matches, and hometown Washington Wizards basketball games. One of her favorite getaways was Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. A number of her other travel destinations were Switzerland, Brussels, Hawaii, London, Paris, Jamaica, Cancun and Bermuda. She always stayed up to date on the latest and greatest of Hip-Hop and R&B. Darlyce could shop with the best of them; her style was unique, with cashmere one of her favorite fabrics and purple her favorite color.
She also had a love for storytelling as she enjoyed reading Stephen King thrillers and watching new movies on Netflix. Whenever she watched a movie, she was sure to follow it up with one of her famous critiques.
Darlyce lived her life with a smile and she was never afraid to go after the things she wanted to do in her life. She lived her life to the maximum and enjoyed it with the ones she loved most. On December 15, 2020, Darlyce Melinda Eley departed this life after a lengthy illness,
She leaves behind her three brothers, Melvin Eley, Jr. (Holly), Randall Eley (Agnieszka), and Timothy Eley (Jolyn), and her only sister, Eunice Eley Ellison (Leon), as well as nephews, numerous nieces, great nephews, great nieces, cousins and a host of friends.