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Edda Jane Blackmore, 18, born April 14, 1952, of RR 2, Rockville, was killed Sunday, September 13, 1970 in a car accident near Bellmore. She was a 1970 graduate of Rockville High School and a member of the National Honor Society, varsity cheerleader and a member of the Rockettes, Latin Club and the school paper staff.
She was to leave the next day for Bloomington, Indiana were she would have been a Freshman at Indiana University joining the love of her life John Baldwin.
Surviving are the parents, Edward and Geneva Jean (Bugh) Blackmore; a brother, Joe Brent Blackmore of Rockville; two sisters, Elaine (Gary) Ball of Rockville and Harriet (Don) Vaught of Bloomingdale; paternal grandparents, Paul and Beulah Blackmore, of Rockville; maternal grandmother, Christina Bugh of Bedford; a great-grandmother, Susie Lewis, of Rockville, and several aunts and uncles.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Tudor Funeral Home, with the Rev. Milton Noland officiating. Burial will be in Memory Garden Cemetery.
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Mary Jane Allbright (Evens) (1970)
Edda was very outgoing and fun to be with. I remember going to her sister's house during lunch our Senior year and hanging out before our afternoon classes started. When I think of Edda I remember her long blonde hair,Paula's slumber party, John and the talk Edda and I had a couple of days before her accident. Another classmate gone to soon.Marilou Perry (Woods) (1968)
I was friends with Edda's sister, Harriet, I remember her when she went by Janie...just a beautiful little pigtailed girl. Edda was often involved in our slumber parties at Harriet's house. I will never forget our trip to Terre Haute to be sized for our bridesmaids dresses for Harriet's wedding. We had laughed and laughed and had a great day. We picked up Harriet's wedding dress that day and we were just south of Rockville on US 41, headed back to Rockville when the car we were in started smoking from under the hood. Edda grabbed the dress and took off running down the highway...she said that their mom would kill them if something happened to that dress. We all had the biggest laugh watching her run with the dress. She was a sweet person who had so much to offer....her life was cut way too short. What a beautiful angel she must be.Lee Ann Birch (Aronson) (1970)
What a great person Edda was. She was always fun to be with but also cared about everyone. I remember one night that a bunch of us "borrowed" Jeri Gooch's parents' new car on a very snowy night and went out on Strawberry Rd to pick up Edda who had sneaked out of the house. We subsequently got stuck in a ditch until some river rats from Montezuma came to our rescue. Another memory I have of Edda was she used to call me every night to see if I was wearing nylon hose to school the next day! We were in 7th grade then and wearing hose was a big deal!Jane Heifner (Presslor) (1969)
Everyone that knew Edda knew that she was just as beautiful on the inside as the outside - and that was so very beautiful.Jay Warden (1970)
Heh this is Jay Warden-I knew Edda since i can remember-this is now 2009-I don't know if there's a day I don't think of her but I do know that I think of her often.I think of her when I'm down because she was the most beautiful person I have ever known. Her kindness is something I will always remember.She was just beyond all of us.Really, Edda -and her death-were all we needed to know about the world.It haunts me still.Ron Russell (1970)
There were 5 of us kids and Mom and Dad living in a small 3-bedroom house in the small farming community of Rockville. I went to grade school at Rockville Elementary, then on to Rockville Jr High. Halfway through my Freshman year, we moved to a small 60 acre farm with a LARGE farm house. Enough room for all of us. But I had to change schools, I was now a Freshman at Turkey Run High School. In the 3 and half years and becoming a Senior, I didn't socialize with my former classmates. They were the rival Rockville Roxs, I was now a Turkey Run Warrior.
It was just weeks, maybe even days, before our Senior graduation, when Edda Jane Blackmore was killed in a traffic accident, one of my elementary school classmates. I cannot imagine the grief and heartache her parents must have felt. I didn't go to her funeral, didn't share the grief with her parents. She was the 1st of my classmates to pass away from this life. I had been around death before, old people die, but this was the 1st time I had known someone young to die. My Father didn't tell me to go, didn't suggest I go, he left it to be my own decision. A few days later, he spoke these simple words "sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do, it is part of being an adult"
I cannot remember not ever wanting to go paddling. There is something so peaceful for me to float down a river. Until last weekend. I cancelled a paddle trip for Saturday and for Sunday. My emotions were too raw and I simply did not want to be around the people who were to paddle with me.
I am to host a paddle today Saturday. I do not want to go. but Edda Jane and my Father's words came to mind as I lay in bed tossing and turning. Today I must be an adult and paddle with some people I would rather not paddle with. I will put on my best smile and welcome my fellow paddlers as they arrive. Engage them in conversation and run sweep as I normally do. I never dated Edda Jane, but I wonder if she would have liked a canoe ride. She will be riding with me today.
"sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do, it is part of being an adult"
I will get home in time to get cleaned up, go to the store and buy a card and some flowers for a friend of my grand niece. I don't really know this woman, met her only once last May. But I have made a promise to my grand niece to go visit her today at the hospital as she recovers from surgery. I don't like hospitals, but I have made a promise and I will go.
"sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do, it is part of being an adult"
I think Edda Jane would like some flowers. I will take her some the next time I go home.