NORFOLK – Elinor Lee Tingen Edwards, a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, cousin and friend, gained her angel wings on Feb. 11, 2025, in Norfolk, VA. Born on Sept. 24, 1929, to Robert Lee Tingen and Mattie Lee (Wilkerson) Tingen in Durham, N.C., she was a long-time Norfolk resident.

Affectionately known as “Mimi” to her grandchildren and “Momma” to her children and children’s friends, Elinor was known for her kind smile, gentle soul, love of travel, fierce independence, tenacious spirit and vivid stories.

Born exactly one month before the stock market crash launched the Great Depression, Elinor relished sharing memories of her happy-but-hardscrabble youth as an only child in rural North Carolina, including Saturday trips to town for a soda, the family’s “double-seater” outhouse, and good times with her many nearby cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. As World War II began and her parents’ marriage dissolved, Elinor and her mother settled in Norfolk, where her mom sought work at the air station and shipyard, and Elinor discovered life in the big city. She attended Norfolk’s Norview and Granby high schools and was a boarding high schooler at Campbell University (then Campbell College) in Buies Creek, N.C., as well. Her college years were spent at Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, N.C., and the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary (now Old Dominion University) in Norfolk, where she was a sister in Di Gamma sorority. (Later, when her children were mostly grown, she returned to Old Dominion to take more courses, attending classes and doing schoolwork around a busy schedule of tending her family, volunteering and working as bookkeeper for her husband’s business.) As a young woman seeking adventure, she also moved to Washington, D.C., for several months and worked in a legislator’s office.

In the early 1950s and back in Norfolk, Elinor worked as an apartment manager for S.L. Nusbaum and for the circulation department at The Virginian-Pilot. During this time, she also met the love of her life, Victor, where he was “sitting under the Christmas tree” at a holiday party. They were immediately smitten. The two wed June 6, 1953, at Norfolk Naval Air Station’s Chapel in the Woods, honeymooned in Miami, and moved to Ithaca, N.Y., where they set up housekeeping while Victor served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. Later, settling back in Norfolk, Victor worked for his family’s business, the long-established Edwards Roofing Company, and the two started their family. First living in the city’s Bayview and River Oaks communities, Elinor and Victor eventually settled in the Edgewater neighborhood to finish raising their brood.

Always industrious, Elinor provided a beautiful home for their family and was a splendid Southern cook. She balanced the family’s books down to the penny and created delicious meals on a frugal budget. As her children grew, she was an active volunteer at their school events, whether chaperoning or working event booths, and supported Boy Scouting activities for her sons and husband. When husband Victor became owner of Edwards Roofing Co., she served as its bookkeeper, spreading ledgers, bills, checkbook and adding machine on the kitchen table to crunch numbers. Later, she served as a volunteer at the VA hospital on Hampton Boulevard in Norfolk, where she pushed the library cart and made friends with veterans.

Though busy with the home, work and volunteering, Elinor always found time for club and church activities. Deeply spiritual, she grew up a Baptist and later became a Methodist. She and Victor were dedicated members of downtown Norfolk’s Epworth United Methodist Church, where she was an active member of the Nell Bryant Circle of the United Methodist Women, parent volunteer for the United Methodist Youth Fellowship and supported Victor’s involvement in the Wesleymen Bible Class, for which he was a vice president. A keen student of history and avid genealogist, she helped compile a vast family genealogy book published through careful research and visits to countless cemeteries and courthouses, and was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, among several lineage-based organizations, and often served as chapter treasurer.

Passionate about travel, Elinor and Victor sought to show their children the world beyond Virginia and North Carolina. In summertime, the family business closed for several weeks so that they could take their offspring on car trips across the United States and Canada, creating priceless memories of national parks and attractions, cemetery explorations, roadside picnics and Mom-and-Pop motels. Elinor always rose early on these trips to relish quiet moments and bring coffee, chocolate milk and hot cocoa back to the slumbering family. In later years, adventures took Elinor, Victor and their youngest children to Europe, including the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Poland and the Soviet Union before Communism fell. Elinor carefully planned the vacations, always happy to oblige when Victor said, “Where are we going this year?” They also loved sun-and-sand time at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and family picnics at the Dismal Swamp, and Elinor saved up coupons from bacon wrappers so that the whole family could visit Busch Gardens when the theme park opened. She and Victor enjoyed 34 years of marriage until his sudden passing in 1987, leaving her a young widow to soldier on.

Elinor never learned to drive, but that didn’t hinder her. A prolific walker, she also loved riding her bicycle and knew the bus schedules by heart. She had a soft spot for animals, particularly her cats, Rusty and Sophie, and adored flowers, especially yellow tulips, cookies, anything purple, her neighbors, gift giving, reading and trips to the Doumar’s Cones & BBQ drive-in, where she relished the barbecue with slaw, grilled cheese and burgers. She liked playing small pranks, had a good sense of humor, eschewed technology and frequently yearned for “simpler times.” Elinor’s day was not complete without reading the newspaper from front to back, and she rarely missed an episode of “As the World Turns.” Even then, she was productive – ironing clothes while her “story” was on. She took great pride in her and her family’s wardrobe, making sure everyone was turned out well. She was also proud to have served as a Civil Air Patrol volunteer during World War II and, later in life, serving as a poll worker during local elections. Humble and kind, she never met a stranger, just like husband Victor, and loved to share stories of yesteryear with all.

In her later years, Elinor became well known to many as “Momma” via her daughter’s Facebook posts. She was game for pictures or videos of their adventures while shopping, visiting Doumar’s and other eateries, exploring local sites and cemeteries, and getting her hair done. Social media friends and followers grew to know and love her, adopting Elinor as a virtual “mom” or “grandma” of sorts. Elinor was grateful for the birthday and other cards sent from these folks far and wide, wanting to know about each sender. She kept every card.

Though a Virginian for over 80 years, Elinor never lost her soft North Carolina drawl and elegant cursive handwriting. She slept with husband Victor’s photo under the pillow or in hand until her passing at 95.

Elinor was predeceased by her husband, Victor E. Edwards Jr.; their sons Rex L. Edwards, Victor E. Edwards III and a beloved-but-unnamed baby boy who passed at birth; and her parents. Left to cherish her memory are daughter Victoria Edwards Hecht (Evan); son Joseph Steven Edwards (Mary Jane); grandchildren Mitchell Hecht (Holly) and Abigail Hecht, Jacob Edwards (Lisa), Matthew Edwards (Debra), Holly Wojtowicz, and Malcom Edwards (Kennedy); great-grandchildren Nicolette, Izabelle, Abby, Aiden and Emilee; special cousins Nancy Pittard and Margaret Fonville; a host of cousins and friends; and her beloved kitties. Special thanks are extended to Amedisys Hospice, especially chaplain Kayla Lennon, for their loving care in Elinor’s final days, as well as Christ United Methodist Church and the Cremation Society of Virginia, especially Lauren Thorne, for their compassionate service.

Elinor lives on in the hearts and memories of all who knew her and the family she lovingly nurtured. Her Celebration of Life memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 1, 2025, at Christ United Methodist Church, 1601 E. Bayview Blvd., Norfolk, with a reception to follow in the fellowship hall. She would appreciate the adoption of a pet or donations to the SPCA or any veterans organization in her memory. Condolences may be offered at www.vacremationsociety.com.