My Great Grandmother Edna Perry:
Edna was born on October 18, 1915 to the late Felix Revan Warden and Margaret Ida Black Warden in the family home in Piney Creek. On the day of her birth, she was visited by their young neighbor Guy Thomas Perry, whom she married in 1935. Edna was orphaned at age 12. Her sister Ruth and husband Hugh Halsey stepped in to raise her to keep her from being sent to an orphanage.
She graduated from Glade Valley High School in 1929 at age 14. She attended Appalachian State Teachers College, working many jobs to pay her way, until age 17. She returned to Alleghany County to teach for a year before completing her B.S. Degree in Education at A.S.T.C. in 1935 at age 19, the same year of her marriage. She was the last surviving teacher in Alleghany to have taught in a one room school house. She taught a total of 28 years, interspersed with raising her children, managing the family dairy farm, raising and preserving a large garden each year, and her active community and church life. She loved teaching and the children she taught. She followed with interest her former students through their lives and was so proud of their successes.
Edna was hard working woman, starting at daylight and stopping at dark, until she was in her late 60’s when she slowed down due to issues with arthritis and diabetes. She instilled in all her children a strong work ethic. She was a long time member of Piney Creek United Methodist Church serving in many capacities within the church, until her later years. She and Guy were instrumental in funding and building of the current building, completed in 1963. She was grounded in her Christian faith and lived it in her daily life as a servant of the Lord. She was proud of her ancestral history and in her later years, spent much time on the family genealogy. She traced her ancestors back to William Black who came from Glasgow, Scotland in 1817 and to David and Capt. John Cox who fought alongside General Washington at Point Pleasant, OH.
She loved people and loved to tell stories of old. She often told the stories dramatically to the delight of all who heard. Her life was long and full. She gave unconditional love to her husband, children and grandchildren.
