Elizabeth Edwards Wilson

Elizabeth Edwards Wilson, 89, died peacefully on Friday, November 8, 2013, with her family around her. She was born to Henry and Pearl Edwards in Decatur, Georgia, on January 31, 1924. She graduated from Agnes Scott College at age 20 with a double major in chemistry and music. In 1944, she married Mercer E. Wilson, and they both went to Oak Ridge, TN to work on the Manhattan Project. After the war, they lived in Chattanooga, TN; Decatur, GA and Greenville, SC. They moved to Charlotte in 1956 where they built the house in which she lived in until her death.

Elizabeth and her husband raised five children, all of whom were at her bedside the last days of her life. She loved children and spent most of her career teaching preschool, Sunday School and Head Start. She had an amazing ability to understand and nurture four-year-old children. She was a long-time member of Church at Charlotte and worked with the preschool program there until the Sunday before she died.

She is preceded in death by her husband of 60 years, and her younger brother, Henry Grady Wilson Jr. She is survived by her five children: Frank M. Wilson (Caroline), Linda Patton (Doug), Barbara Whaley (Rob), Fred H. Wilson (Jennifer Schaal), and mark E. Wilson (Marian).

She is also survived by eight grandchildren: Elizabeth Patton Windley (Ryan), Nathan T. Schaal Wilson, Robert D. Patton, Rachel E. Schaal Wilson, Laura A. Wilson, Anne Wilson Wagstaff (Drew), Joseph M. Wilson and Julia C. Wilson, as well as two great-grandchildren: Chloe Patton and Charlotte Windley.

In Lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Church at Charlotte Building Fund, 2500 Carmel Road, Charlotte, NC 28226 or Samaritan’s Purse.