In Memoriam: Ronni Gaskin Williamson Candler

Posted on May 1, 2020 By Editor In Memoriam

March 16, 1945 – April 19, 2020

Milliners throughout Northeast Florida are mourning the passing of one of their greatest customers, Ronni Gaskin Williamson Candler on April 19 after a brief battle with cancer. A lifelong resident of Jacksonville, Candler, 75, rarely left her home bareheaded and owned more than 200 hats at the time she passed away.

“She loved her hats. She wore hats all the time and had a room full of hat boxes and a whole wall that was stacked with hats,” said her daughter Shelley McArn.

Candler’s family roots in Avondale/Riverside dated back to the late 1800s, and Candler’s great aunts started Jacksonville’s first private school at the corner of Oak and King Streets. She was born to Jean and Milton “Maggie” Gaskin, a well-known piano tuner and jazz musician on March 16, 1945. She grew up in Venetia and settled in Avondale/Riverside in 1974, where she pursued a career in real estate. A local expert in the purchase and selling of historic homes, she and her mother, Jean Gaskin, founded Avondale Realty on South McDuff Avenue, in a building that formerly housed her father’s piano tuning business. After brokering in real estate for 29 years, she closed her shop in 1998 to pursue other interests.

Candler was a fervent historic preservationist and founder of Riverside Avondale Preservation (RAP), an organization she served as a board member for over 25 years. She was a passionate supporter of securing the character and historic integrity of the area and repeatedly butted heads with those who threatened the neighborhood. She and other residents often stood toe-to-toe with various city departments when new projects or developments did not jive with her outlook on preservation. One notable example was her success in thwarting an attempt to pave over one of the five remaining brick streets in the Riverside/Avondale area in 1988. After another resident, Mitch Woodlief, parked his car in front of the paving equipment, Candler and others rallied to stop the city’s machines from covering over the street that many neighborhood residents had come to love.

Candler and her late husband, Dr. James Williamson, also purchased eight live oak trees and planted them along St. Johns Avenue at their own expense. And back in 1977, Candler, along with 20 other investors, put up the money to purchase the Martha Washington Hotel, located at 1636 King Street, which was set to be demolished. In 1985 and 1989, she was a key RAP board member who pursued a successful effort to have Riverside and Avondale listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

She also enjoyed participating in historic reenactments and rifle shooting with her late husband, Robert Candler, in the mid-2000s.

Along with historic preservation, Candler’s other interests were music, painting, antiques, and especially community service. She was an accomplished equestrian and owned many horses throughout her life. Her favorite horse was Dip, who lived to be 36, and her last was a racehorse named Scho Me Mor 1988. An ardent animal lover, Candler rescued dogs, squirrels, homeless cats and birds. She housed a pet cemetery in her home, where she kept the boxed cremains of all her former pets on three shelves in her kitchen. She was survived by her two beloved birds, a 26-year-old white cockatoo named Lucky and a 20-year-old Patagonian Conure named Pattywhack.

“What I will miss most is talking with her,” said McArn. “She was very witty. This past year we enjoyed watching movies together, especially animal movies, such as “Black Beauty,” “Dolphin Tale,” and “Where the Red Fern Grows.” I’m really going to miss her. She was a good mother and a good friend. We got close this past year, and I’m so glad I had that time with her.”

Candler was predeceased by her husband Dr. James Williamson in 1989 and her second husband, Robert Candler in 2010. She is survived by her daughters Shelley McArn of Middleburg and Suzanna Shuford of Orange Park as well as six grandchildren, eight great grandchildren and her sister, Patti Williams of Windermere, Fla.