Edith (May) Childress was born May 1st, 1925 in Lansing, NC, daughter of Walter R. May and Emmaline (Hurley) May. She passed away on June 5th, 2014 in Altamonte Springs, FL. Mrs. Childress was preceded in death by her husband, Ned Childress, and beloved daughter, Gail Childress Jennings. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 28, 2014 at 11:00am at Boone Family Funeral Home with Rev. Ervil Jones officiating. The family will receive friends on Saturday from 10:00-11:00am, one hour prior to the memorial service at Boone Family Funeral Home. Edith Childress is survived by her children, Richard (Mary) Childress, of Birmingham, AL. and sons, Barry and Mark (Anna) Childress; Ginny (Morris) Becker of Birmingham, AL and sons, Jeff (Bree) Becker and great grandson, Oliver, Jon (Abby) Becker, Ryan Becker; Alan (Debbie) Childress of Powell, Ohio, son, Tim (Rachelle) Childress and great grandson, Luke, daughter Erin (Matt) Allen and great granddaughters, Morgan, Emmy and Bryce; Barb (Dennis) Knight of Longwood, FL, sons, Colin Knight, Matthew Knight, and daughter, Katherine Knight; Beverly (Joe) Mancini of Shaftsbury, VT, son, Joe Mancini and daughter, Lora Mancini. Mrs. Childress also leaves behind her sisters: Beulah Rodefer of Bel Air, MD, Margaret Connor of Melbourne, FL; Nancy Whitson of Pigeon Roost, NC and many treasured nieces and nephews. Edith was a loving wife and friend to Ned Childress. Throughout their fifty two wonderful years together, they were partners in every facet of their lives. She worked and retired from the U.S. Geologic Survey Office in Washington D.C. After numerous moves throughout their partnership, they retired to the mountains they loved in Ashe County N.C. Edith was an integral part of Midway Baptist Church and enjoyed many cherished friendships there. With her family roots firmly grounded in the Lansing/West Jefferson area, Edith returned with Ned at retirement to Ashe County and Mount Jefferson. With the joy they had in their children, family and friends, they immediately made their home the destination of choice for large family reunions and retreats. Her handcraft was exemplary and she made numerous hand-stitched quilts, knitted blankets, sweaters and crocheted lace. Edith was always incredibly generous with her time and talents and would make anything requested of her. In later years, her most constant companions were her books. She loved reading poetry, Ashe County history and her Bible. She instilled a love of reading in all of her children and was especially proud the first time they all had their own library cards although even the youngest child was expected to pay overdue fines on a forgotten book. She was also determined that even though her children lived in different states, that their sense of family would stay strong. As a Mom, she wanted all of her children to have the same work ethic as she did; she believed in chores and any complaints were dealt with by adding a few extra chores! Edith's love for her husband and children were always central in her life. Her lifelong goal was to keep everyone together no matter what happened or how far apart they lived and she most assuredly accomplished that! In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Edith's charities: Ashe Services for the Aging: http://asheaging.com/donations.php Samaritan's Purse: http://www.samaritanspurse.org