Edith Penrose

Edith loved people (warts and all she said many times). Her life was not an easy one. Her childhood had many sad times as her father was a gambler and an alcoholic often leaving his wife and children starving. He died in her arms when she was just a young woman of 23 from a fight over a dog. Then when she was 40 with 4 children her husband died. She gave her children to her youngest sister Dorothy to take care for what was meant to be a short while. She moved to Alaska and became a homesteader with a new husband in hopes to get her children back. Sadly that was not the case. The homestead had to be in her husbands name and she only had them a few months before all of them wanted to leave because of her new husband. She had moved to Alaska because of her grandfather who always wanted to move to Alaska. She did not have the money or the parenting skills to care for 4 children and if she left she would lose the  homestead she had worked so hard and had envisioned for her grandfathers memory. Her children went back to her sister. However, Edith never stopped loving her children and it did truly sadden her. Later in life she sent all of them a written apology. Even though her 2nd husband abused her many times she took care of him until his death.  Edith loved being a homesteader, seeing her kids & her grand kids,seeing her family, friends, laughing, drives in the car ( North, South, East and West she would say) family movies, music (polka's and country music). Her favorite song though was Ava Maria. She believed in God. She always wanted to go to Scotland and take her son. While Edith's life was sad in so many ways she tried to stay positive and enjoy everyone's company. She loved her family and her many friends. She was kind, generous, and a good person. She wanted the best for everyone. She cooked and baked from scratch, canned, sewed and was very good at it. She loved reading and talking on the phone. While she could have a temper at times she tried to believe the best in people. Her favorite flower was the yellow rose for friendship. Her favorite animal was the Alaskan Moose, her favorite place was her homestead in Gakona, Alaska. She was my mom and I miss her. Carol