Edna G. Galloway

Edna Geneva (nee Cunningham) Galloway died December 7, 2011 from complications of vascular surgery. Born September 8, 1924, in Thrift, Texas near Dad’s Corner, she was the second child of ten and the oldest of only two daughters of Charles L. Cunningham and Doris Brown Blair Cunningham. She was a spunky and feisty little girl as she had to be surrounded by brothers; the first five kids were called “The Tribe,” and she was nick-named “Mighty Katinka” by her grandfather. It was an oil-lease life and the family moved often finally settling in Graham and later in Jacksboro. She attended Bryson High School where she was a cheerleader and sang in talent contests and at church. Hers was a distinctive voice with an Eartha Kitt huskiness. In 1942 while visiting in New Mexico, she was spotted by a young soldier training to be a glider pilot. That July meeting with Paul Wallace Galloway led to marriage in November and with the war in full-swing, our Mom became an army wife following Dad to bases in Indiana, Arkansas, and Ohio. Not wanting to part with her new husband, Mom once talked her way onto a troop train to the next post. They were parted only by his death August 2006.

Their first daughter Trudy Anne aka Gail was born in 1943 in Graham, TX, followed by Terry Lynn in 1950 in Stuttgart, Germany, and Tenley Sue in 1955 in Berlin, Germany. The family lived in Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, California, among other places, and had two long tours in Germany. After retirement, Mom and Dad settled in Austin where she worked in women’s retail at Parisian Peyton’s. They made a final move from Austin to Florence in 1975 where Dad fulfilled his dream of building his own home and where they lived until their deaths. The Ramshackle Ranch is a place surrounded by trees, rich in wildlife (a possum lives in the garage), people (three generations share the land), and good times.

Mom loved to sing and at a recent concert of the Studebakers she knew all the lyrics and sang along. Her favorite songs were “I Remember You,” “I’ll Be Seeing You” and “Sentimental Journey.” She was petite and looked good in clothes and she never forgot an outfit. Her hair was beautiful: black and wavy as a girl, champagne silk in her age; but she never had a haircut she liked more than 24 hours. She was a woman of contradictions, by turns adventurous and cautious, filled with fun and charm and also beset with worries. A tremendous story-teller, she had charisma that commanded attention. Edna Galloway was just so much fun and she liked to have fun. Failing health prevented her from doing what she loved—walking miles daily—but she turned that passion to talking about politics. She was a Yellow Dog Democrat and a fighter for social justice. The historic election of President Obama was a wonderful moment for her. She loved babies and they responded to her; she was a great cook and passed this on to her girls. Even as she grew more frail, she kept her feistiness and her sense of humor, although she was candid about the loneliness of old age when so many you loved are gone.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Paul Galloway, her brothers Robert Lee (in infancy), Donald, Kenneth, Charles, and Richard, her beloved only sister Marilyn Sue Oliver, sister-in-law Donna Cunningham, a nephew Michael Cunningham, and best friend Dorothy Savage.

She is survived by brothers, Ernest and wife Geraldine, Jerry Dale, and James and wife Shirley; beloved brother-in-law, Arnold Oliver and wife Tomi; and sister-in-law, Susie Coen. Daughters, Trudy Ann (Gail) Adams and her husband Timothy and their son Paul; Terry Lynn and life partner, Donna Marie Nudd; Tenley Sue Parr and her son Michael Parr and his wife Jennifer; and former son-in-law, Bill Parr. She was especially dear to one of her surviving cousins, Neda Chatham Walden. There are many nieces and nephews, and among them close in her affection were Rhonda Cunningham, Rachel Angel, and Doris Yoder, and grand niece and nephew, Heath and Haily Alexander. Central to her and to the family’s affections is Charles Pankey, her husband’s dearest friend.

Any one of her daughters could say “hers was the first hand I held at birth; mine the last she held at death.

The family will receive guests for a time of visitation from 6:00 - 8:00 P.M. Monday, December 12, 2011 at Cook-Walden Davis Funeral Home in Georgetown, Texas. Funeral services will be held at twelve noon on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 in the chapel of Cook-Walden Davis Funeral Home. Interment will follow at Matsler Cemetery in Georgetown, Texas.

Arrangements by Cook-Walden Davis Funeral Home, 2900 Williams Drive, Georgetown, Texas 78628 (512)863-2564.