Happy Birthday Grandma

Today is my Grandma's birthday. She would have been one hundred and seven. She is the only grandmother I knew so if someone says Grandma, she is who I think of. She had a stroke before she died, so the last few years she depended on others more than I am sure she would have wanted.

Edith Mae Wilson was born on March 3, 1906 near Oneco, Florida to Benjamin Franklin and Ida Lundy Wilson.



Edith abt age 5

 This photo was taken on the front porch of her parent's home. It is an enlargement of a family group photo. All the family is dressed up for the picture but as you can see she isn't wearing shoes. It looks like she is holding a small purse in her lap.

Having a purse in her lap would fit her. She was always ready to go somewhere. She took vacations several times driving from Florida to North Carolina or Virginia with a car full of children and grandchildren. Once I was old enough to drive with her and sit up front I decided I would rather ride the bus!

She married Walton "Tink" Fulford on June 4, 1924 and my mother was born about 13 months later. She had seven children over 24 years, the last one being born almost two years after her first grandchild.

Her home, built in 1926 was on the water of Sarasota Bay in Cortez, Florida. It was always a showcase for native palm trees, tropical plants and roses. Tink grew palm trees to sell and planted them all over the yard. Sometimes he would sell one from the yard but she made sure the hole quickly was filled with another one. She was responsible for the plants and roses.

She died in 1992 on the same day Hurricane Andrew arrived on the Florida coast. At her funeral my brother made the comment that you would expect Tink Fulford to come back with the biggest, baddest wind he could find to pick up Edith.



Grandma Fulford 1952

The Tampa Tribune

Friday, August 28, 1992

EDITH MAE FULFORD, 86, of Cortez died Sunday at Suncoast Manor in Bradenton. She was a lifelong resident of Manatee County. She was a homemaker, a member of Cortez Church of Christ and worked as a volunteer to raise money for the Cortez Volunteer Fire Department for 31 years. She is survived by three sons, Gary D. of Bradenton, and Ralph M. and Wayne W., both of Cortez; four daughters, Mary Fulford Green of Bradenton, Anna Dean Riddick of Sarasota, Belinda Porterfield of Montgomery, Ala ., and Irene Taylor of St. Petersburg; a brother, Walter H. Wilson of Lecanto; 22 grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren. Brown & Sons Funeral Home Chapel, Bradenton.