Alumna Marianna Dow Edgerton Dies Nov. 30
December 06, 2012
Marianna Dow Edgerton ’40, who sang in the a capella choir at Guilford with J. Wilbert “Wil” Edgerton and married him in 1943, died Nov. 30. She was 93.
In the course of their 69-year marriage, Marianna and Wil lived in 10 cities in five states, singing in choirs in almost all of them. Wil, a longtime trustee of the College, died Oct. 1.
Marianna grew up on a small farm in Massachusetts and was drawn to Guilford by her Quaker roots. After graduating she worked as a social worker until the birth of their first child, when she became a homemaker.
In her 50s, with the youngest of their four children in junior high, Marianna earned a master’s degree in biostatistics from the School of Public Health at UNC.
She observed constellations most of her life; Cassiopeia was a favorite because of its M shape that inverted to form her husband’s initial. She had a lifelong love of word games and poetry and could recite poems memorized in high school even in her last days.
Guilford honored Marianna and Wil with its Distinguished Service Award in 1991. They moved to Friends Homes West in Greensboro in 2000.
Her full obituary is available on the Greensboro News & Record website.
A celebration of Marianna’s life will be held at a future date.
The obituary states that memorial donations may be made to the J. Wilbert and Marianna Dow Edgerton Scholarship Fund at Guilford or to a charity of the donor’s choice. The scholarship was established in 1999 to provide assistance to deserving students with preference given to members of the Society of Friends in North Carolina.
