Virginia Lucile Edwards

Virginia Lucile Edwards, age 101, died peacefully on January 3, 2017 in her home at the Residences of Thomas Circle in Washington, DC. Called Lucile or Aunt Lucile by her family and friends from early in life, her Washington friends and colleagues knew her as Virginia. Virginia was born in 1915 on a farm in rural Mecklenburg County, VA to parents, James Frank Edwards and Daisy Braswell Edwards. She was sister to Dorothy May Edwards Crenshaw, Hubert Lightfoot Edwards and Robbie Hart Edwards Moseley and half-sister to Curtis, Willie and Fenton Edwards — who all preceded her in death. We remember Virginia lovingly as a smart free spirit who lived a remarkable and full life — some would say charmed. She was an avid reader and dreamer from a very early age with natural tendencies toward adventure, art and writing – admittedly becoming very adept at escaping the family chores of farm life also at a very early age! She started elementary school at age 5 and graduated from La Crosse High School at age 14. She then moved to Richmond to live with her older sister, studied secretarial work and eventually graduated from Pan American Business School. In later years, she also enrolled at George Washington University taking classes at night where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1977. Her first employment was with the Virginia State Department of Health in Richmond. In 1941, she moved to Washington, DC and joined the Office of Naval Intelligence that became the Office of Censorship during World War II where she worked for the duration of the war. In 1951 she joined the Foreign Service to see the world which took her to Turkey, Nepal, Israel and Brazil for multi-year assignments. While living in those countries, she took advantage of immersion in local culture, traveling and collecting many treasures and gifts she brought back to her family. Virginia retired from the Foreign Service in 1964, decided to settle in Washington and then started the next of several more career adventures that included The World Bank, George Washington University and serving as docent at the National Archives. She loved the city and all it had to offer in term of continuous learning opportunities, museums, art galleries and music venues. She was a devoted patron. She was also devoted to and took great pride in her family and close lifetime family friends from her early life that she stayed in touch with over the years. She so missed her parents, brothers and sisters, close family and friends who had passed on and spoke of (and wrote about) them and special memories often. Virginia is survived by her nieces — Dorothy Edwards Crenshaw Cronk and husband Tabor (deceased) of Urbanna, VA, Dr. Elizabeth Hart Moseley of Virginia Beach, VA, Carol Moore Edwards Deanes and husband Freddie (deceased) of Natural Bridge, VA, and Anne Lightfoot Edwards Hartley and husband Al of Chapel Hill, NC, and her nephews — Leroy Gillette Crenshaw, III and wife Paige (deceased) of Richmond, VA, Charles Walford Crenshaw and wife Joyce of Richmond, VA, and Dr. Samuel Harvey Moseley, Jr and wife Sarah of University Park, MD, 13 great nieces and nephews and 15 great-great nieces and nephews. Funeral service will be held on January 15, 2017 at 2:00 PM at Rehoboth Methodist Church, 1919 Blackridge Road, La Crosse, VA followed by a reception at the nearby Rosemont Winery at 1050 Blackridge Road. Her final resting place will be beside her mother at Oakwood Cemetery in Lawrenceville, VA. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Williams Funeral Home of Lawrenceville, VA. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Rehoboth United Methodist Church, PO Box 431, La Crosse, VA 23950 or Faith Mission Home, 3540 Mission Home Lane, Free Union, VA 22940.