Edna H French

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth

of sun-split clouds,—and done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,

I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung

My eager craft through footless halls of air ....

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue

I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace

Where never lark, or even eagle flew—

And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

—High Flight, John Gillespie Magee Jr.

Edna Harney French of Catonsville, Maryland, passed away on December 30, 2024. Edna was born December 22, 1941, in Asheville, NC, to Henry M. Harney and Gertrude Pauline Machin Harney. As a military child, her family moved a lot, and she attended five high schools, including Catonsville High School where she met her first husband, Charles Raymond Somerlock. She graduated from Glen Burnie High School in 1957 and married Ray in September of that year.

She had a lifelong love of music, and earned a degree in music education from Peabody Conservatory in 1961. She taught music in Howard County schools in until the birth of her children, after which she taught private piano lessons while raising her daughter, Sheila, and her son, Carl.

After her first husband took up flying as a hobby and earned his pilot’s license, she took flying lessons so that she could land the plane in case of an emergency. She fell in love with flying, and embarked on a new career as a pilot. She encountered discrimination as a woman working in the male-dominated aviation field in the 1970s, yet she persisted. She worked as a Chief Flight Instructor, flew air charter flights, and even flew organs for transplant. She took a job as a secretary at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to get her foot in the door, a job she used as a stepping stone to advance to Aviation Inspector and eventually management. She worked in several FAA offices around the country, including two tours in the Anchorage, Alaska field office, the first time as an inspector and the second time as a senior manager.

On May 7, 1979, she married her second husband, the love of her life, Paul Scott French, whom she had met at the FAA. She and Paul had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1977, and she remained steadfast in her faith throughout her life.

She retired from the FAA in 1992 due to health issues, In 1995 she and Paul moved back to Maryland to be close to family. In 2001, she began working part-time at the Baltimore County Public Library, and by 2004 she qualified as a librarian, working in the Catonsville and Woodlawn branches. She retired from the library in 2007, and the same year moved into the Charlestown retirement community in Catonsville.

Edna lived a full life, experienced much, and lived in many places, but her family and her faith were the pillars of her life. She was known for her kindness and loved by many.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Paul French and her sister Pauline “Polly” Harney Johnson, She is survived by her daughter Sheila Ruth and husband Nick Ruth, son Carl Somerlock and wife Christy Somerlock, stepson Mike French and wife Beth French, grandson David Ruth and wife Michelle Salzano, and grandson Max Adrian Rosberg Somerlock.

A viewing and visitation will be held on Friday, January 17, from 6-8pm at the Gary L. Kaufman Funeral Home, 7250 Washington Blvd, Elkridge, Md, 21075. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 18, with viewing from 9:30-10:00 and service from 10-11 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Ellicott City Ward, 4100 St Johns Ln, Ellicott City, Md 21042, followed by a gravesite dedication and internment.

In lieu of flowers, a contribution to either of the following would be appreciated:

Sjogren's Foundation. https://www.sjogrens.org/

Anxiety & Depression Association of America https://adaa.org