Edith Churchill Cushnie
We are gathered here this morning to bear witness to our faith in the resurrection, the resurrection of all who are buried in Jesus Christ our Lord and the resurrection of Edith Churchill Cushnie. Edith died peacefully at her residence at Morningside Assisted Living on Monday evening. She was 101.
Edith was born January 3, 1906, in Brooklyn, NY, the only child of Joseph Churchill and Edith Meloche. She grew up in nearby Flatbush until at the age of 12, her parents moved to Wheeling, W Virginia. There they remained until her junior year in high school, when they moved to Charleston, W Virginia. Edith was sad to leave behind the friends of her teenage years, in particular one Dave Cushnie. More on him later.
Edith graduated from Charleston HS in 1924, and went to work in Charleston. The romance with Dave Cushnie, now a student at W Virginia University, continued, even after Edith and her family moved to Richmond in 1927. Dave and Edith were engaged in 1928, and planned to marry on October 26, 1929, here in Richmond. Her grandmother’s death on the eve of the wedding disrupted their plans. The marriage service was moved to NY City, site of the grandmother’s funeral, and the date changed to one hard to forget: October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday, the third day of the stock market crash that plunged the nation into the Great Depression. Edith liked to comment, October 29, 1929, was a bad day for many, but it was a great day for me.
The newlyweds moved to the Philadelphia suburbs, where Dave worked for Bell Telephone. Before long Dave lost his job to the Depression. They got by with Dave doing odd jobs and through family support, remaining in Philadelphia for 12 years. They had two sons there: William, in 1931, and Richard, in 1936.
Eventually Dave was rehired by Ma Bell. In 1946 they moved to Vienna, Virginia, where they lived for 11 years, before moving to White Plains, NY in 1957. Edith’s parents moved with them to White Plains. After her father died, Edith continued to care for her mother, who stayed with them in her later years. In 1965 Dave retired and Edith and Dave moved to Moorehead City, NC, where they built a house on Bogue Sound. Edith often said those were some of their best years. They lived there longer than they had anywhere else – 18 years. Edith loved the water, and fishing and boating. They also traveled extensively in those active retirement years.
Edith and Dave enjoyed 54 years of marriage before Dave died in 1983. The next year Edith moved to Richmond. At first she maintained her own home, and then moved in with Bill and Trish, and to then to Summer Hill. After she had a stroke in 1996, she moved to Morningside Assisted Living, where she became the grand dame of the community.
Of course, the mere accounting of one’s life is never the measure of life – even when it is an unusually long life. And Edith not only lived long. She lived well. A quote and her daily ritual sums up her life this way:
In her high school year book, the caption beneath her picture depicted the 18 year old Edith, using a line borrowed from James Fennimore Cooper’s Homeward Bound: “From the crown of her head to the sole of her foot, she is all gentleness.”
Edith was a gentle woman in so many ways. She remained throughout her long life attached to and engaged with her family. As a child, she was the “apple of her grandfather’s eye”. She was a loving wife. As a mother she was devoted to her sons, but also welcomed into her life and love their wives. She cared for her own mother for a quarter century. As a grandmother and great grandmother and great great grandmother, she never forgot a birthday or special occasion – or to include a check with her card. Surely, one of her best days came a year ago this summer, when her large and scattered family gathered in a pre-100th birthday celebration.
Edith was a product of an era that has passed, one bridging the giddy optimism of a world before it knew world war and world wide depression, and a world marred by terrorism and war displayed on the daily news. She also saw the tremendous technological advancements of the 20th century – she was married to a telephone man after all. And she took it all in without fear or bitterness.
Edith was a correspondent of letters beautiful in form and content. She and a high school friend exchanged letters over nearly their entire lifetimes – even though they only saw each other once after high school. She was a collector of personal and family memorabilia. She shared her gentle ways, volunteering in church and community. She logged a 1000 hours as a volunteer at Johnston Willis Hospital – after she turned 90! At Morningside she enjoyed her card games with friends – but she also never missed her shift in the facility’s little general store.
As a church member, she was a pastor’s blessing: supportive, encouraging, appreciative, responsive. In all ways, she was a gentle woman.
Edith had a daily ritual as proscribed as any church liturgy. Upon rising, she would pray, read from her Bible and the devotional for the day, and then turn on CNN! Unlike her minister sons, I doubt Edith ever read any of the 20th century theologian Karl Barth. But she lived by Barth’s edict for preaching. The preacher, Barth said, should hold the Bible in one hand – and the newspaper in the other. Edith didn’t preach. But she lived her sermons with her Bible in one hand and the modern world in the other.
Baptized a Methodist, she spent most of her life in the Presbyterian Church. But whatever the church, it was the faith that mattered. Her faith was one that never separated her devotional life and her life of service to others. And hers was a faith as ancient as the Bible and as relevant as – well CNN!
On her 100th birthday, she was asked what was the most significant thing she had seen over her long life. Without hesitation she remarked, the changing role of women. Perhaps because she was coming of age as the women’s suffrage movement came to fruition, she particularly was mindful of the changes the right to vote brought. As a result, Edith always voted. No doubt out of gratitude for the right – and a good Calvinist appreciation for the duty to vote.
Throughout her life, Edith was able to see the connection between life and faith and faith and discipleship. Right at 10 years ago, in a diary she was keeping, Edith recorded this prayer, with the notation, “today I learned I may have glaucoma and other eye problems:” “O Father, I will try to look forward to the changes in my life without fear. I know you will lead me safely through every path.”
“From the crown of her head to the sole of her foot, she is all gentleness.” Or as Scripture says, “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Thanks be to God for the life and witness of Edith Cushnie.
Edith was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, David D. Cushnie, and is survived by her sons and daughters-in-law, Bill and Tricia and Dick and Susan; her grandchildren, Marti Reed, Mike Cushnie, P.J. Jordon, Cindy Massengale, Debbie Bevel, Ross Cushnie, David Cushnie, Blake Cushnie, Peter Cushnie, Melissa Koester, Carl Schmidt, and Sarah Schmidt; 18 great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren.
Having gathered for our mutual support and to hear the comfort of the scriptures, let us worship God:
R. Charles Grant
Bon Air Presbyterian Church
Richmond, VA
February 10, 2007