Janice “Elaine” Holladay Edwards, lovingly known as “MeeMaw,” was called home to Heaven on September 6, where she was joyfully reunited with her beloved husband, Hugh.
Elaine was born on October 12, 1943, to Ozell and Houston Holliday. At 19 years old, she married the love of her life, Hugh, and together they were blessed with 60 beautiful years of marriage, raising their three children, building a successful business from the ground up, and creating a lifetime of memories along the way.
Elaine was a seamstress by trade and often spoke fondly of the many memories made alongside her friends while working at Bi-Flex and playing softball together. She was a hard worker, a loyal friend, and someone who found joy in the simplest things. She loved pink. She loved sparkles. She loved color. She loved flowers and hummingbirds, angels and all things Christmas. She loved Jesus. But more than anything, she loved people. It didn’t matter who you were or where you came from, she wanted you to know that you mattered. She made everyone she met feel welcomed, included, and loved.
Her greatest title of all was Mama, until later, when she became MeeMaw. Along the way, MeeMaw became bigger than just a “name.” MeeMaw was love, MeeMaw was “home.” She wasn’t only MeeMaw to her own grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was MeeMaw to their friends, their ball teams, their entire school and the community. If you knew her kids or grandkids, you knew MeeMaw, and she had already claimed you as one of hers.
She showed up for her people. Again and again and again, like clockwork. She celebrated the little things as though they were the biggest things. She was the kindest smile in the crowd, a helping hand whenever one was needed, and a constant presence in the lives of the people she loved. Her kindness never asked for recognition, and her love never came with conditions. To know MeeMaw was to be loved by her.
There are simply not enough words to adequately describe a life that touched so many others. Her family will miss her smile, her kindness, her laughter, her traditions, and the way she made ordinary days feel special. We will miss the color and sparkle she brought everywhere she went. Most of all, we will miss the comfort of simply knowing MeeMaw was there. Her love was pure, constant, and unconditional, and the pieces of herself she gave so freely throughout her life will live on in every person fortunate enough to have been loved by her.
Elaine was preceded in death by her parents, Ozell and Houston Holliday; her beloved husband, Hugh Edwards; and her siblings, Edna Crewdson, Odell Darden, Judy Holliday, and Lonnie Holliday. She is survived by her daughters, Alice Barton (Frank) of Marion and Janice Clary (Marty) of Greensboro; her son, Hugh Edwards III of Marion; her sister, Margie Rayford; and her brother, John Henry Holliday.
She is also survived by her six grandchildren, Kasey Barton, Caitlyn Rinehart (Jeff), Hunter Edwards, Cameron Clary, Shelbie Hoggle (Craig), and Heath Clary (Christina); and eleven great-grandchildren, Thomas Hugh Rinehart, Alice Jean Rinehart, Elaine Ruth Rinehart, Amelia Sloane Perry, William Thomas Hoggle, James Craig Hoggle, Randall Evans Clary, Jack Benson Clary, John Hardy Clary, Katherine Grace Clary, and Michael Heath Clary.
Visitation was held Saturday, September 12, from 10 to 11 a.m., with the service following at Bethlehem Methodist Church in Marion. Elaine was laid to rest with a private family burial at the family’s home, Lakeland Farm, in Marion.
Pallbearers were Frank Barton, Jeff Rinehart, Hunter Edwards, Ray Edwards, Craig Hoggle, and Brian Hood. Honorary pallbearers were Linda Allen, Gloria Brown, Essie King, Elaine Richardson, Nichole Powell, Caneesha Steele, Hannah Zahedi, Ben and Shane Lee, and the wonderful staff of SouthernCare New Beacon Hospice.
