108-year-old, great-great grandmother succumbs to coronavirus – NJ.com

If you knew Ollie Edwards, you knew she was a loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, and a genuinely kind, caring person, family members say. Being on this Earth for 108 years, Edwards experienced many events, both good and bad, but she was known for her giving personality and strong spirit.

Unfortunately, according to a family member, Ollie is believed to be one of the oldest people in the state to die from the coronavirus. She passed away Saturday at a nursing home in Linden.

“It was a true blessing to have her as my grandmother,” April Edwards-Thompson said. “Over 108 years, she was a phenomenal force in our family. Her house was where we all gathered together, enjoying each other’s company and her cooking, especially her cakes and pies. Oh how we wished she could live forever. Grandma Ollie will be truly missed by everyone.”

Born in 1911 in Crawfordville, Georgia, the second oldest of ten children, Ollie was raised on a farm helping her parents, George and Laura Swain, feed the livestock, milk the cows and make household products such as hair grease, butter, jelly, and soap. She also picked cotton in the deep south to help her family during the Jim Crow Era.

Edwards arrived in New Jersey in 1938, living in Roselle, but moved back to Georgia after some time. In 1947, Edwards moved back to the state, this time to Newark, the city she would call home for over 70 years.

She married Jessie Edwards and had eight children, four boys, and four girls. The two also raised their oldest granddaughter, effectively giving them nine children.

Known as an excellent soul food cook and baker, Edwards was asked by her family to make many dishes, even having people pay her to make hog head cheese and cakes and pies.

Edwards’ family said that even in her advanced age and having suffered hip surgeries and ailments such as dementia and deteriorating hearing and vision, she would always remind them of her position as the matriarch of the family.

Longevity ran in Edwards’ genes. Her paternal grandmother, a member of the Cherokee tribe, lived to be 121 years old, and Ollie is the only surviving member of that family, the Swains.

“I’m the captain of this ship, you are just a passenger, sit back and take a ride,” Edwards used to tell her children according to the family. “I may be old, but I ain’t cold.”

In her final years, beginning in 2014, she was visited daily by her family at the Delaire Nursing Home in Linden. She quietly left this life on Saturday April 11, 2020, at 10 a.m., surrounded by her family.

The loss was felt throughout her family members.

“Great grandmother, when I took my oath of honor, you were so proud of me,” great granddaughter and police officer Tan Edwards, of Clifton. “In the oath, I honor to protect and serve, and I am so broken-hearted that I was not able to protect you from COVID-19. I love you and will forever carry the Edwards last name.”

Edwards leaves behind three living children, 15 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren and numerous great-great-grandchildren and other family members who are spread out across the country.

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Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews or on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.