- Date Of Birth: December 13, 1921
- Date Of Death: December 30, 2016
- State: New Mexico
Edna Rita Strauss (nee Higgins) joined her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Friday, December 30, 2016, surrounded by her family. She was the daughter of Isabel (Bullen) and Joseph Higgins, and stepdaughter of Francis Pullis. Her husband, Frederick, her son, Glenn, and her brother, Stanley (wife Evelyn), predeceased her. She leaves behind a devoted family: her daughters, Karen Moya (Joseph) and Wendy Dabney (Bruce); her sons, Eric, Stephen (Linda), Tracy (Gayle) and Alfred (Barbara); her grandchildren, Paul, Daniel (Tina), Carla, Amanda (Jon), Ethan, Erick, David (Maura), Sean, Ryan and Kelly; great-grandchildren, Micah, Ezra, Anica, Emma, Jasmin (Piers), Justice and Jenesis and great-great grandchildren, Yoshi, Aydin and Liya.
Edna was born on Shakespeare Avenue in the Bronx, NY on December 13, 1921. She spent her early years on Staten Island, before moving to North Bergen. Edna attended the Barbizon School of Modeling. She was also an executive secretary for Paramount Pictures in NYC prior to her marriage. While there, during WWII, Edna’s coworkers used her leg measurements in place of Betty Grable’s when the GI pinup girl was unavailable for a publicity release.
She met her soul mate, Fred, on the Palace fishing boat out of Hoboken. Coincidentally, they had each accompanied their fathers that day. Although she was seasick, he introduced himself. Fred was shorter than Edna, so she bought her first pair of flats for their first date. They were engaged by their third date. The two married seven months later, during the Blizzard of December 28, 1947.
Thursday, January 5th, 2017, 12:00pm, Cross of Hope Lutheran Church
