Daryl Wayne Singleton
March 26, 1951 – August 5, 2023
It is with incredible sadness that NEFAR has learned longtime member, Daryl Wayne Singleton of Realty Quest Real Estate and Management in Ponte Vedra Beach, passed away after a brief illness on August 5.
A longtime resident of Northeast Florida’s Beach community, Daryl was part of Mayport’s iconic Singleton family, owner of Singleton Fleets, Inc., which at one time was the largest shrimping fleet operation in the Gulf of Mexico.
In 1993, Daryl was president of both the Jacksonville Beaches Association of REALTORS® and the Northeast Florida Multiple Listing Service. That same year he was also named REALTOR® of the Year.
Daryl was involved in real estate for nearly 40 years, recalled his good friend R.D. De Carle of Florida Realty USA, in Jacksonville Beach. After serving as vice president of Singleton Fleets, Inc., he started RE/MAX at the Beach, where he was broker/owner before becoming the founder and CFO of Realty Quest Real Estate and Property Management in Ponte Vedra in 2007.
“Daryl was always accurate, upstanding, and honest,” said De Carle. “He always carried his end of the deal and often had to “mother hen” new agents to get both sides of the deal done. He was old school,” De Carle remembered. “Sometimes with new agents who are green and wet behind the ears, he would just say, ‘sit back, I will do all the work and just send you your check.’” De Carle said.
Daryl was very involved in the leadership of the Beaches Association of REALTORS® prior to the advent of NEFAR. “He was always a top-flight guy and one that if you ever did a transaction with him, you knew he would always be 110% honest and thorough. He never left an I undotted or a T uncrossed. I had the highest respect for him, and we used to have social events out here at the beach when things were a little bit more manageable. He would always attend those. He was definitely a joiner of our Beach social life, and we had lots and lots of fun over the years. He will be sadly missed,” he said.
In his teenage years and young adult life, Daryl was in the American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps. From 1967 to 1973, he served as a surfman, quartermaster, and mate, and made many lifelong friends.
Daryl graduated from Fletcher High School Class of 1969 and attended Florida Junior College where he met Ellen, his wife of 49 years. The couple had two children, Stephanie Singleton Bryan (Andy) and Jessica Singleton Leeman (Jesse). He was also grandfather to Lucas and Jacob Bryan.
Daryl loved spending time with his family and taking yearly fishing trips on the St. Johns River.
Daryl’s family will hold a private service at a time that has yet to be determined. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Jacksonville Beach Volunteer Life Saving Corps.
