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FRANKLIN – Carolyn Page Edwards, 84, died on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at Bon Secours Southampton Medical Center in Franklin, Virginia. Carolyn was born in Richmond on July 21, 1939, to Gladys Scarborough Edwards and Mills Carlyle Edwards of Southampton County.

She spent her entire life in the county, where she lived on the Edwards Farm owned by her grandparents Junie and Tyler Edwards. She lived there until she moved to the Village at Woods Edge in Franklin in 2018.

After graduating from Franklin High School in 1956, Carolyn received a business degree from Chowan College in Murfreesboro, North Carolina, in 1958. She returned home after college and worked at Union-Camp Corporation (later International Paper) for 37 years from 1959 to 1996 where she was the office manager/administrator of the Pulp Mill Division. During her years at Union-Camp, she was active with the International Association of Administrative Professionals (IAPP) and served in several leadership positions with the group.

She was always interested in the history of the Edwards Farm and was a founding member of the Southampton Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Courtland. She donated many items from the country store, Edwards & Moody, run by her grandfather, father and uncle John Moody on the farm. She wrote articles published in The Tidewater News on the family’s country store on the farm on Delaware Road as well as her grandfather’s Seine Beach on Monroe Road that was a popular source of fresh-water fish from the Nottaway River for many local residents every spring.

She loved ancestry and spent a great deal of her time researching her family’s history. Her ancestors served the United States in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Her fourth great-grandfather Thomas Bowden served in the Revolutionary War; her second great-grandfather John Edwards served in the War of 1812; and her great-grandfathers Mills Riddick Edwards and Benjamin Thomas Scarborough served in the Civil War. She was a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and served the organization in leadership positions. She was proud to have visited all 50 states. She spent many years traveling throughout the United States with her close friends Carolyn Massengill, Jane and Donald Rountree, Betty and Shelton Modlin and Gaynelle Riddick. She also drove across the country twice with her brother Mac. In addition, she traveled to Italy with her friend Nancy Schreyer; to Germany and France with her friend Barbara Gavin; and to England, Scotland and Ireland with her friend Audrey Francis.

She was a member of Sycamore Baptist Church and served it many years in leadership positions including church treasurer. Her great grandparents – Mills Riddick Edwards and Susannah Bowden Edwards – were members of the church in the late 1800s when the church was founded. A stained glass window in the sanctuary is dedicated to them.

Carolyn nearly always had a loving pet dog at her side: Archie and Mitzi when she was growing up; Cody and Pepe when she was an adult. She enjoyed training her Pomeranians Cody and Pepe, who won Kennel Club awards at competitions up and down the East Coast from New York to Washington to Virginia. She proudly displayed their many awards at home.

In addition to her Edwards grandparents, she was the granddaughter of Emmett and Annie Scarborough of Wakefield, Virginia.

She is survived by her brother, Mills Carlyle (Mac) Edwards Jr. of Franklin; her brother-in-law, Reginald J. Birks of Franklin; and her cousins June Moody Duck (Bobby) and Gail Moody Milteer (Mike) of Franklin; Jean Rodgers Garrison (James) of Appomattox; Bill Rodgers (Rose) of Gladys; Judy Rodgers of Charlottesville; Bobby Scarborough of Smithfield; Joan Scarborough of Chester and Susan Scarborough of Reston. The families of all these cousins were a source of love and pride for her.

A visitation for family and friends will take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 2 at Wright Funeral Home followed by a funeral service in the chapel at 11 a.m. The Rev. Tracey Pugh of Sycamore Baptist Church will officiate. Burial will follow in Southampton Memorial Park.

Pallbearers include Reginald Birks, Brian Burgess, Bobby Duck, Joey Francis, James Garrison, Mike Milteer and Michael Milteer.

Donations in her memory may be made to Sycamore Baptist Church on Sycamore Church Road in Southampton County.

www.wrightfuneralhome.org