Edah Brittain Grover, born on September 6, 1931 in Birmingham, died on June 5, 2018 after living with Alzheimer’s disease for fourteen years, which she handled with great courage and grace. She was the daughter of Lenora Perkins Brittain and James Anthony Brittain.
Edah graduated from Lakeview School and Ramsay High School in Birmingham. She received a BA in History from Randolph Macon Woman’s College, Lynchburg, Virginia.
She was presented at the Redstone Club in 1953, and was a member of the Junior Leagues of Brooklyn, New York, Augusta and Birmingham.
She was employed at J.P. Morgan in New York City. Edah loved New York, and spent 15 years living in Brooklyn Heights, where she and her husband had three children. They later moved to Augusta, Georgia. She commuted daily by bus from Augusta to Athens where she received a Master of Landscape Architecture degree at the University of Georgia School of Environmental Design in 1978. During an initial job in the field of Landscape Architecture in Augusta, she learned to fly and bought a single engine airplane, which she used to travel to remote areas in the southeast for her business. Later, she moved back to Birmingham with her children.
Edah married Philip M. Grover in 1980, and opened Grover & Associates, Landscape Architects in 1981. In 1987, the firm’s name was changed to Grover & Harrison as her oldest child, Lois Harrison, also a registered landscape architect, joined the firm. The firm specialized in urban design, parks, and retail projects. They won multiple design awards annually from the mid-1980s to the 1990s. Specifically, they designed Kelly Ingram Park, which received a national design award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It is widely acclaimed as a center for the civil rights movement, as well as a beautiful park.
Mrs. Grover participated in many local and national organizations and was active in promoting women in business. She served on the Boards of Directors of Colonial Bank, the Birmingham Metropolitan YMCA, and Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Alabama Chapter, of which she served as President. She also was President of the Alabama Zoological Society and was actively involved in the Birmingham Zoo. In addition, she was a member of Operation New Birmingham, The Women’s Network, and Women’s Business Ownership Council. Other organizations she served included the American Society of Landscape Architects and its Alabama Chapter, the Alabama Chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta Honorary Society, and Leadership Birmingham Class of 1986. She was a member of the Design Review Board of the City of Birmingham, the Birmingham Mayor’s Council for the Betterment of the Handicapped, and the Mountain Brook Tree Commission.
She was selected a “Top Birmingham Woman” in 1993 by the Birmingham Business Journal. The Birmingham Business Owner’s Council, a business women’s support group she helped found, recognized her with its highest honor upon her retirement for her efforts in promoting women in business. In 1995, the School of Environmental Design of the University of Georgia celebrated Mrs. Grover with their Distinguished Alumnae Award, the highest honor available for graduates of the School.
Edah is survived by her adoring husband, Philip Montague Grover, and her three children, Lois S. Mash and her husband Phillip, Birmingham; James D. Silliman, Sacramento, California; and Sherwood Eddy Silliman and his wife Tracey of Birmingham. She loved and enjoyed her five grand children, Daniel, Amanda and Emily Silliman, and Miriam and Natalie Silliman. She is also survived by her sister, Gail Brittain Gilchrist and her husband Richard of Fairhope, Alabama, and her three children, Patricia Collins Steele and her husband Mark of Atlanta; James Milton Collins and his wife Sarah of Birmingham, and Robert Purcel Collins and his wife Lynn Amy Boardman of Charlotte.
She deeply loved her step-children, Molly Grover Miller and her husband Dwight of Helena, Alabama; Elizabeth Grover Guffey and her husband Steve, of Morgantown, West Virginia; John Calvin Stallings Grover and his wife Beth Holley, of Asheville, North Carolina; and Madeleine Grover Warren and her husband Tim of Savannah, Georgia; and her step-grandchildren, Kathleen Simcoe, her husband Owen, and their son Miller; Rebecca Darby and husband John; and Emily Northington and husband Wes and their new daughter Elaina; and Eric, Walker and Keegan Guffey.
A memorial service to celebrate Edah’s life will be held at St. Mary’s-on-the-Highlands Episcopal Church, 1910 12th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL at 2:00 pm on Friday, June 8. The family will greet friends at 1:00 pm before the service in Drennen House.
Edah’s family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the Edah Brittain Grover Scholarship, The UGA Foundation, c/o Jennifer Messer, Director of Development, College of Environment and Design, 285 South Jackson Street, Athens, GA 30602, or to Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama, P.O. Box 2273. Birmingham, AL 35201 or online at www.alzca.org.
