| Notes |
- The Oregonian
June 26, 2011
Prudence Shand "Prudy" Edwards was born in Portland to Margaret Watt Edwards, a teacher, home-maker and writer, and M. Lowell Edwards, an engineer and inventor. She was the second of two children. Her brother, Miles J. Edwards, predeceased her in 2006.
'
The family moved to Longview, Wash., before Prudy started school, and she completed her elementary and secondary edu-cation in the public schools there, graduating from Robert A. Long High School in 1949. Her dear friend, Joyce(Schmaltz) Robertson, remembers her as both the kindest and the smartest kid in school, who was always willing to help others with their homework. She also attended Catlin Gabel School in Portland for one semester while living with her aunt and uncle, Helen and Clifford Zollinger. Prudy started her college career at Willamette University as an English literature major, and joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority. After two years she transferred to Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., where in her last year she changed her major to biology, and worked very hard to cram in the required courses. (There is a story about Prudy bringing a dissection project home on the train at Christmas vacation.) She graduated from Pomona in 1953.
On December 20 that same year, she married D. Duane Denney, a medical student at the University of Oregon Medical School, now OHSU. Cameron was born in 1957, Colin in 1958 and Bronwen in 1962. Prudy and Duane lived in several Portland neighborhoods during their 57 years together, most notably on Oleson Road, Peacock Lane and Hewett Boulevard. They spent 1966-67 in Freiburg, Germany, and in 1979 they spent several months in Ulm, Germany, where Duane conducted medical research.
Prudy was a lifelong member of the Mazamas, a member of St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, West Hills Racquet Club and Great Books. Prudy was kind, cheerful, generous of spirit, intelligent and full of curiosity and wonder. She never ceased to be enthralled by the simple gifts of nature-a bird song, a squirrel chattering, the fog filling the valley below, the sweet smell of her beloved roses. She was truly a student of the natural world. To the very end of her life she loved the textures and colors of rocks, wildflowers and mossy twigs. She was a musician, an athlete, an outdoorswoman, a student of Shakespeare and a deep and critical thinker. To truly sum up this rich and generous life would take volumes.
Prudy is survived by her husband, Duane Denney; children, Cameron (Gary), Colin (Sandy) and Bronwen (Albert); granddaughters, Gwynneth and Avery Johnson and Abbie and Emmy Daigle all of Portland; and step-grandsons, Jason and Matthew Hoe of Honolulu.
She is sorely missed by all who knew her, and her loving and gracious spirit will never be forgotten. A private graveside service was held.
Prudy is interred next to her brother and parents, and near her grandparents and great-grandparents at Friends Cemetery in Newberg.
|
1931 - 2011 (80 years)
[1, 2] 
