In her day she must have been a real looker, the type of woman who makes men stop to gaze at an hourglass figure and confident stride.
Born in 1913, Edythe Donovan was a physically striking woman with a magnetic personality who grew up in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, around 182nd Street. Most girls her age married right after high school, but Edythe persevered to attend both Fordham University and City College of New York. Intensely interested in politics and born a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, she landed a job after college in a law firm in New York City; acting as the office manager by day and at night she read everything she could get her hands on about American history and the Democratic Party.
Somewhere in her 20s, two magical events occurred. First she met a young handsome artist named Val Fox, and second – she was offered an appointment by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to become the Assistant Secretary to the Attorney General of the United States. Although in love with the artist, she wistfully explained that job offers like this came only once in a lifetime and she moved to Washington D.C. while the artist remained back in New York City.
World War II erupted and when FDR died and a new administration entered the White House, Edythe returned to both New York City and the artist. They married; he continued to further his dual career as an electrical engineer and an artist, and she became pregnant.Then the unthinkable occurred. In 1954 Edythe fell and broke her knee cap, which refused to heal correctly. The doctors performed tests and concurred on a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Upon that pronouncement, her life dramatically changed.
Only 41 years old, with two young boys, and the prognosis of a rapidly crippling disease, Edythe took stock of her life. Where other women might have railed against God, she proclaimed it was the hand she had been dealt and she would see it through.
At first she maneuvered with a leg brace and cane, but within ten years she became confined to a hospital bed: one she insisted on installing in the living room of their suburban New Jersey rambler so people could come to call. While Ann Landers and Dear Abby may have been the queens of advice in print, Edythe kept her house continually open to a steady stream of neighbors and friends who came by to ask her advice on a variety of topics. She hired three high school girls to cook and clean, and encouraged her now teenage boys to hold their rock band practices in the basement. Her devoted husband, Val, continued to work, paint and take care of her.
When the Glen Rock High School graduating class of 1965 asked Val Fox to be in charge of designing the elaborate backdrop sets for the all night graduation party, “A Night in Paris”, Edythe decided to launch a one woman campaign to secure door prizes for the seniors. Phone calls and letters went out to every senior’s parents, asking that they save all their S & H Green Stamps and mail them to Edythe’s house.
By now the multiple sclerosis had rendered the right side of her body useless, but she still had partial movement in her left arm and hand. For months she used a wet sponge and painstakingly pasted the S & H Green Stamps into booklets and then redeemed thoughtful door prizes from the company’s catalog. On graduation night she lay in her hospital bed with the windows wide open so she could hear the all-night band playing at the high school party. By the wee hours of dawn, each graduating senior, all 248 of us, received a wonderful door prize with which to remember our commencement.
The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation recognized Edythe with a deserved accolade as the MS Mother of the Year. But everyone in our small town already knew she was a phenomenon. She died over the 4th of July weekend in 1986 at the age of 73, having lived almost half her life with a disease that may have crippled her limbs, but never her spirit.
A true strong woman and I am proud to have known her.
Wow! What a great post about a wonderful strong woman who followed her heart and her dream.
Thanks Bobbi, she was a true inspiration to everyone who met her.
Thank you for this wonderful site! Very well done on a subject (women in history) that is far, far too often ignored. My only ‘complaint’ is that you don’t have the time to do dozens of entries a day.
Thanks Deborah, I would love to highlight these special women more often, but I am busy shopping for an agent for my novel, The Ellen Canavan Story. It’s about an amazing woman in 1860 Philadelphia who help develop a special cloth that the government used for soldiers’ uniforms. The hitch is, she never got the credit. My novel hopes to push her into the limelight!
You’re very welcome. 🙂
As to the rest of this, please pardon that it’s in the comments, but I don’t see an email for you that doesn’t require registering for that other site.
Best of luck getting the novel published. May I suggest that, not necessarily ‘instead of’ but at the very least ‘in addition to’ that you send your proposal directly to editors? With the publishing industry the way it is today, there is little most agents can do for you that you can’t do for yourself. Regardless, I look forward to seeing it in print.
She truly was amazing. I was one of the 3 who cleaned her house and in all the years I knew her I never once heard her utter an unkind word toward anyone.
You were very fortunate to have known such a remarkable woman. Thank you for sharing a snapshot of that experience.
I really believe that God puts special people into our lives for a reason
I think I am lucky enough to call you my friend! I was so scared my computer battery was going to die before I finished this amazing story. Linda, you are such an good writer and I am so proud of you.
Obviously, I hit the submit button before checking what I wrote…it should be such a good writer.
I was astounded to come across this article about Edythe. I lived in Harristown Road from 1979-81, when my husband was working in his British company’s Manhattan office, and Edythe and Val were very kind to us and our two young children. I shall never forget Edythe’s wonderful spirit and sense of humour, and I am immensely grateful to you, Ms Sittig, for this opportunity to learn more about her.
Hi Anne, I am so glad you found my blog. Edythe was and is still one of the most special people I have ever known. I have her son’s email if you would like to send him a note. I’ll add your email address to my blog roll and then you’ll be notified of other posts once a month. Glen Rock was the best town to grow up in.
linda 🙂
Anne,
my parents were good friends of Edythe and Val Fox. I have several of his works hanging in our home. I have a friend who lives in Glen Rock who would like to purchase some of Val’s prints. I kept in touch with Rich Fox for some years but have lost his email. IF at all possible, would you share it. I believe he was going to sell some of his father’s prints…especially of Glen Rock and Central Park.
Thanks for your help. I taught at Coleman School for 18 years and lived there for twelve. It is a wonderful town with amazing people!
Janie