Obituary
She never forgot her Southern heritage
EMMA EDGERTON, 1919-2003: Emma Edgerton's children will take her back to the South Carolina town where her family lived for generations.
By MARTY CLEAR
Published October 24, 2003
SUNSET PARK - Emma Edgerton is finally going home.
Mrs. Edgerton and her family lived in Sunset Park for almost 50 years, but she never forgot her rural South Carolina roots.
She visited there often, taking her children to Blackville, the small town where her family lived for generations.
"Her family goes way back to the pre-Revolutionary War era in South Carolina," said her son, Tampa physician Bruce Edgerton. "She was a direct descendent of John Adams. Her grandfather was a Confederate soldier, and her two uncles were Confederate soldiers who were killed in the Civil War. She was very proud of her deep roots in this country, and especially in the Southern part."
Failing health made it impossible for her to make the trip in recent years. But she never stopped talking about returning.
Mrs. Edgerton died Wednesday (Oct. 15, 2003) after gall bladder surgery. She was 84. Her four children decided to bury her in the bucolic Blackville cemetery where her parents and other relatives were laid to rest.
"She'll be buried between her mother and father," Dr. Edgerton said. "As much as she loved Tampa, we felt like we should return her to where her roots are."
Emma Boylston was born in Blackville in 1919. She studied education at Winthrop College but never worked as a teacher.
During World War II, she was working at a shipyard in Charleston, S.C., where she met N. Bruce Edgerton, a medical student and Navy lieutenant who would become her husband.
Just a few years after the war, the couple moved to Tampa, where the elder Dr. Edgerton took a position with the Hillsborough County Public Health Department.
They bought a home on Howell Street, where they would live for the rest of their lives. Her husband died about 15 years ago.
Although Mrs. Edgerton always held South Carolina in her heart, she also cherished Tampa, her son said.
Soon after she moved here, she took up gardening and floral arranging. Her four children - Bruce, Roy, Lacey and Salley - would help carry her arrangements to the Florida State Fair, first in downtown Tampa and later at the fairgrounds on U.S. 301. She regularly took home blue ribbons.
She was a member of the Sunset Park Garden Club and a life member of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs.
Since the early 1990s, Mrs. Edgerton combined her passions for flowers and her church, the Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church. Every week, she and a few friends would create elegant floral arrangements for the altar.
The church was "one of the anchors in her life," her son said.
Mrs. Edgerton believed in traditional American values and old-fashioned Southern manners, which she instilled in her family, he said. One of her proudest accomplishments was seeing all of her children graduate from college.
Her family remained close, and as Mrs. Edgerton's health began to diminish, at least one of her children would visit her every day.
"We were determined that she wouldn't go to a nursing home," Bruce Edgerton said.
Neighbors on Howell Street helped, too. One drove her to church every Sunday, another took care of her lawn and another built a fence around her yard for her dog.
Mrs. Edgerton's funeral was Tuesday at the Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church, where members placed a plaque on a wall in honor of her dedication. Later, family members planned to gather in that pastoral South Carolina cemetery to say their last goodbyes.
"This will be my mother's last trip home," her son said.
City Times headlines
A guide to Ybor inside & out
Amy Scherzer's DiaryGlitzy soiree with a cause
City PeopleYour fun is her work
Everybody's businessLofts quietly built amid townhomes
Local hauntsA host of ghostly happenings in Tampa
Neighborhood reportVirginia Park: 'Barren' street may bloom in medians
Downtown: It's just a jump to the left ...
Fair Oaks/Manhattan Manor: Landlady is out, now so is her building
Neighborhood notebook: Do you know how to say 'pass the pasta' in Italian?
ObituaryShe never forgot her Southern heritage
School newsInterbay: Students get reason to linger over books
What's BrewingEdgy poets hit the road
What's in a name?Sicilian helped other immigrants
Your TurnDevelopment should fit in with neighborhood
 |
