Mrs. Dina Ekis Hart

It is with deep sorrow that the Hart family announces the death of Mrs. Dina Ekis Hart, 79. Mrs. Hart, the widow of Leon Hart, entered into rest on Friday, March 10, 2023. The Directors of Brown-Pennington-Atkins Funeral Home & Crematory are caring for the family. A funeral service to honor her life will be held at 11 o'clock on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in The Chapel of Brown-Pennington-Atkins Funeral Home, with The Rev. Dr. John Parks officiating. The family will receive friends immediately following the service. A private burial will be held in Grove Hill Cemetery, Darlington, SC. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in her honor to Morton Presbyterian Church, 1068 Morton Circle, Hartsville, SC 29550. Dina was born on June 11, 1943, to Robert Ekis and Vivian Shell in Norfolk, VA. She and her family lived in various places during her childhood, including Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama. By the time she graduated from high school, Dina had traveled and lived around the country. Dina later attended Coker College, earning a degree in mathematics in 1996, fulfilling a long-time goal. She went on to work at Sonoco, retiring after more than a decade there. Dina had a lifelong love of learning, often reading multiple books at the same time. She loved music and singing (which she called making a joyful noise) as well as cross stitch and crocheting. As a young woman, she enjoyed riding bikes and walking outside in nature. Later in life, she still enjoyed being active and worked out with a personal trainer, who she considered a friend, several times a week for many years. Dina was a big sister and a natural caregiver. She was the glue that kept her family connected even though she and her siblings were spread across the country. She loved being a mother and grandmother and enjoyed watching them grow. Dina has been a member of Morton Presbyterian church since moving to Hartsville in 1982. She loved the Lord and regularly volunteered at church, including teaching Sunday school classes. She was a humble and loving woman who displayed quiet strength even in her last days. She is no doubt in heaven, making a joyful noise to the Lord with a full breath in her lungs for the first time in a long time. In 1964, Dina and Leon Hart were married while living in Alabama. Dina and Leon had one child, Karen Hart Blankenship, in addition to her stepdaughters, Terri Hart King and Donna Hart Starling. Dina is preceded in death by her father, mother, and husband, as well as her sisters, Sherry Ekis Yeamons and Sandra Ekis Setzer. She is survived by her stepmother Loretta Ekis, her siblings Marcia Ekis Sims, Robert (Pete) Ekis, Jr., John (Mike) Ekis, and Joel Ekis, her grandchildren Brenda King, Kevin Rogers, Toni King Allen, Kent Rogers, Michael King, Elizabeth Blankenship, Nicholas Starling, and Brian Starling, and 14 great-grandchildren as well as many nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.

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Mrs. Dina Ekis Hart

June 11, 1943 - March 10, 2023