Edith King
- Published: July 9, 2009
Edith Elinor King died on June 29. She was 95.
Edith was born in Charleston, S.C., daughter of Harold Davis King and Edith Etta Thompson King. She grew up in Baltimore. Her father was commissioner of lighthouses for the United States.
Edith came to Yellow Springs in 1932 to attend Antioch College, where she earned her degree in psychology in 1937. While an Antioch student, Edith christened the lighthouse ship Nantucket. Her photo adorned the bulkhead. Fifty years later, the Nantucket Historical Society invited her back to rechristen the ship.
Edith’s career was at the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City, where she rose to the position of assistant to the head of the medical division. Edith would travel to other countries where she opened and organized offices for foundation activities. She retired in 1979 but returned to coedit the volume, Academic Medicine — Present and Future.
Edith was a modest, gracious, dignified and friendly person. She was a world traveler. She was an excellent tennis player. Into her eighties, she could out-hike her nephews and niece.
Edith had many friends at Friends Care, where she lived since 2005, including the resident dogs; they frequently would visit her room and sleep on her bed.
Edith was preceded in death by her brother, Roger King; her parents; brother, Jack King; nephew, Ross King; and sister-in-law, Joan Leon King.
She is survived by nephews, Philip and Adam King, both of Yellow Springs; niece, Crista King Vallianatos, of Claremont, Calif.; long time companion, Margaret Broadbent; great nephews, Mark Vallianatos and Noah King; great niece, Corinna Vallianatos; great-great nephew, Ellis Moffatt; and great-great niece, Katya Vallianatos.
No services are planned. In lieu of flowers, the family would be grateful for donations to the Alzheimer’s Association or Friends Care.
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