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Irene W. Edwards of Southampton died at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care on Quiogue on December 17, 2018.
She was born in 1938 in Paris. Her parents were Andrew and Lydia Wilson who were born in Kiev, Ukraine. She escaped Nazi occupation, leaving France with her parents and brother and arriving in the United States in March 1941 on the S.S. Carvalho Araujo. She grew up in New York City, attended the High School of Music and Art, and both Tufts University and Barnard College, from which she graduated in 1961. She met Gary Edwards while working at the United Nations, and they were married in Rutland, Vermont, in 1964.
When her husband joined the U.S. Foreign Service, Ms. Edwards began traveling the world with her growing family, navigating new cultures and places with aplomb. She lived in Niger, Morocco, England, Greece and France, as well as Brookline, Massachusetts, and Kensington, Maryland, where the family owned a home. In 1980 she completed her master’s coursework for a degree in classics at Catholic University. When the family returned from Paris, Ms. Edwards began a career at the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health in 1990. She became Fogarty’s director of communications and was a dedicated public servant until her retirement in 2003.
Survivors said she was the center of family life, a wonderful cook who enjoyed welcoming and nourishing family and friends. She was as an avid reader of literary fiction as well as mystery novels, a crossword puzzler, and a lover of classical music and the BBC. She cherished time with her husband, children, and grandchildren, taking pride in their accomplishments and attending many graduations and celebrations.
In 2017, Ms. Edwards and her husband moved into a home that their son, Tom, built for them on Big Fresh Pond in Southampton, where Gary had grown up and where the family had spent many extended summers. She spent time with her husband, children and grandchildren, encouraging their pursuits, and turning the new house into a home.
Ms. Edwards is survived by her husband, Gary M. Edwards; her children, Cathy, Claudia and Tom Edwards, and their spouses, Mike Wishnie and David Levin; grandchildren, Rachel, Ben, Liza and Nicky; her brother, Victor Wilson; and his daughters, Janet and Denise and families; and her in-laws, Clifford, Jocelyne, Ron, Judy, Kedar, Judy, Lee, Cathy and Tony, and families.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Brockett Funeral Home in Southampton.
on Dec 18, 2018