ABRAMS Edith Anderson Abrams - Longtime Mobile resident passed away on the morning of October 30, in the loving company of her daughter, Susan, and son, Don. She was preceded in death in 1983 by her husband of 37 years, William F. Abrams, Jr., a veteran of the Army Air Corps in World War II, and her brother was Leon Roland Anderson.
She is survived by her two children and her sister Ina Anderson Hightower of Montgomery. Edith was valedictorian at Montgomery County High School and graduated magna cum laude from Auburn University in 1944. She remained a staunch fan of the football team through all the good years and even last weekend's disappointment. As a young County Demonstration Agent in rural central Alabama she began a lifetime of helping others with a focus on good food and home crafts. One notable project early in her career involved supervising a struggling farm family in canning an entire cow they obtained as a windfall, using only an iron pot over an open fire. Soon after moving to Mobile in 1953, she joined Springhill Presbyterian Church as a founding member. She continued her service to the church in a variety of roles, including deacon, Sunday school teacher, and luncheon organizer. She continued to participate in services and weekly activities until recently. The church honored her with a Life Membership Award. Edith interrupted her work to raise two children, but returned to work later as an assistant librarian at Shaw High School in 1967. After retiring from Shaw in 1991, she turned her energies to several hospital volunteer programs around Mobile. She was a classical pianist who sometimes pulled the piano away from the wall a bit so her daughter Susan could crawl in next to the sound board and absorb the power of Rachmaninoff or the energy of Chopin. She and her husband were ardent anglers; they instilled a passion for the outdoors and fishing in their son by handing him a cane pole long before he was able to hold a baseball bat. Her children grew up with fingers often stained purple in summer from picking dewberries and making jelly. Edith was regarded as a second mother by several other children in Forest Hill and her children's friends never hesitated when a lunch invitation was extended. She was particularly proud of her "Kennedy children and grandchildren" next door. She tolerated pet snakes and turtles and swallowtail butterflies hatching from chrysalises on the dining room table during meals. She balked at her husband and son's birddogs, but eventually suggested that they be brought indoors during the worst weather. She revered books and was always available for a ride to the Springhill library or the bookmobile. She was a legendary solver of crossword puzzles and jigsaw puzzles. She will be remembered by friends for her cinnamon rolls, for festive neighborhood breakfasts on Christmas mornings, for uncountable gifts of knitted, stitched, sewn, and crocheted items, and for delicate West Indies salad made from blue crabs she not only cooked and picked but caught as well. Burial will be at Mobile Memorial Gardens at 10:00 a.m on Friday, November 2. A memorial service will be held at Springhill Presbyterian Church on at 11:00 a.m., with a reception to follow at the church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to The Heifer Project (http://www.heifer.org/) or to a worthy charity of the donor's choice.

Published in the Press-Register from November 1 to November 2, 2012