Edna Elaine Owen Moran's Obituary
Edna Elaine Moran, nee Owen, died on Tuesday, February 3, 2015, after a brief illness at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin MD, at the age of 92. She was the beloved wife of the late James Doyle Moran and the mother of five children: Patricia Tiger, Ocean View DE; Teresa (Victor) Ponte, Beltsville MD; Susan Piper, Millsboro DE; Jacqueline (Len) Maisel, Delmar MD; and James Doyle (Teresa) Moran II, New Market MD. She is also survived by 14 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Her twelfth great-grandchild is expected in April. She also leaves behind a sister, Peggy Jo (Alonzo) Vance and a brother, Eugene (Betty) Owen.
Mrs. Moran was the seventh of twelve children, born on Friday, October 13, 1922 in Bristol, VA and raised in Bristol, TN. She was the daughter of a prominent local builder, Nicholas Fain Owen and his wife Gertha Mae Shufflebarger. She grew up in a house adjacent to the Anderson Street Methodist Church she attended every Sunday. She loved to sing and competed in the church’s weekly contest to choose the young person who sang the loudest. She won every week but one. Her family friends included Clarence and Maud Ford, whose son Ernest gained fame as a singer, Tennessee Ernie Ford. As a teenager, she and Mr. Ford sang together on a local radio program featuring hymns on Sunday mornings.
She proudly served in the U. S. Navy (WAVES) during World War II, stationed in Washington DC. In the immediate post-war era, she met her future husband in a local night club catering to veterans. They were married in November 1946 and their union lasted more than 58 years until his death in May 2005. They raised their family in Lewisdale, a subdivision of Hyattsville MD in Prince George’s County; they lived in the same house for 43 years, before relocating to the Eastern Shore. They enjoyed retirement together in Ocean View DE.
She loved sports. She played basketball all through high school. In the late 1940’s, she and her husband regularly attended games played by the Washington Lions, of the former Eastern Amateur Hockey League, at the old Uline Arena in DC. She was an ardent Washington Redskins fan all her adult life. She and her husband collected Redskin memorabilia for many years. They were season ticket holders at RFK Stadium and for several years were invited to watch their Monday Night Football games from the private box of then-team owner Jack Kent Cooke.
They also rooted passionately for the Washington Senators and later the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, as well as the Washington Capitals professional hockey team. She never missed a televised Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball or football game. A favorite personal activity was duckpin bowling; they competed in several different leagues, all based at the now-defunct Fontana Bowlarama in Silver Spring MD.
Mrs. Moran was a homemaker until her youngest child began school, when she went to work at the former Handley Ford Motor Company in Silver Spring MD, first as its Warranty Clerk then retiring as its Office Manager. She got her first driver’s license in 1958, because part of her compensation at the dealership at that time was the use of a demo car. Also in 1958, she converted to Catholicism from the Methodist faith in which she was raised. At the time of her passing, she was a member of the congregation of St. Ann’s Parish in Ocean View DE.
She was a member of American Legion Post 0024 in Dagsboro DE; Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. She was also a life member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and a Charter member of the National World War II Museum.
A Memorial Service will be held at 11 AM on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 at Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Clarksville Chapel, 34874 Atlantic Avenue, Ocean View, DE, where friends may visit beginning at 10 AM. Mrs. Moran’s remains will be entombed next to those of her husband in the Delaware Veterans’ Cemetery, 2669 Patriots Way, Millsboro, DE at 2 PM on Tuesday, February 10, 2015.
Please sign Mrs. Moran's online guestbook at this site.
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