05/11/08 - NNHS Newsletter - Edith Windross Daggy

Edith Windross Daggy
(5 Oct 1923 - 28 Apr 2008)

NEWPORT NEWS - Edith Windross Daggy, 84, a longtime resident of Newport News, died Monday, April 28, 2008, after a long, courageous battle with ovarian cancer.

She was born on Oct. 5, 1923, in Middlesbourough, Yorkshire, England, the youngest child of Stanley Oswald and Edith Ester Windross. Upon the death of her father, her mother moved the family to London six months prior to the outbreak of WWII. One day she went to Kew Gardens with two girlfriends to find some Yanks. It was there that she met her future husband, Melvin A. Daggy, an American GI billeted nearby. They would marry in London and on the day the last V-2 rocket hit the city, their first child, Helen, was born.

In February of 1946, she and her infant daughter arrived in New York aboard a ship bearing war brides. A long train journey would bring them to Newport News, where Melvin had worked prior to the war as a draftsman for a local architectural firm. Edith joined and became an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church, where for decades she sang in the church choir and served in many missions of the church, especially Trinity Lutheran School. She loved books, music, art and flowers.

Wherever she lived, her yard and home became a little piece of England. Her knowledge of fabric and skill at sewing led to 20 years of service at a local fabric shop. Her name Edith appropriately means 'happiness, rich gift,' for that she was.

Edith was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin; and her brothers, James and Stanley Windross.

She leaves behind to love and to cherish her memory, her sister, Dorothy Holding of Romford, Essex, England; her children, Helen Sanders and her husband, Steve, of Fredericksburg, Lois Bisese and her husband, Lynn, of Zuni, Richard Daggy of Newport News, Bruce Daggy of Morris Plains, N.J., and Jennifer Daggy of San Francisco; five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews on both sides of the Atlantic; and many, many friends from all walks of life, especially her dear friend and fellow war bride, Cathie Wall.

The family wishes to give special thanks to her physicians, especially Drs. Voljavec, Cross, Peyser and Kessler; to the angels posing as nurses at Virginia Oncology and to the outstanding hospice team provided by Personal Touch.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at Trinity Lutheran Church, with the family to receive friends following the service at the church.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church, 6807 Huntington Ave., Newport News, VA 23607, or the American Cancer Society, 11835 Canon Blvd., Newport News, VA 23606.

Arrangements are by Weymouth Funeral Home. View and post condolences on our online guestbook at dailypress.com/guestbooks.

Published in the Daily Press on 5/11/2008.
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