Edith Kendall

Edith Marian Kendall, a 51-year resident of Anchorage, was born Aug. 25, 1924, in Spire Falls, N.Y., to Kenneth and Eva (Sweet) Hopkins. She died peacefully in the company of family members and the last of her beloved kitties, Dolly, on April 5, 2011, in Tillamook, Ore.

In 1943 she wed the love of her life, Bernard "Bronk" Earl Kendall, a Navy pharmacist. He shipped out on the USS Montauk, serving in the Pacific Theater during World War II. At age 19, having never traveled before, Edith packed up and took a bus to San Francisco, where she lived throughout the war, serving as a special message operator for the U.S. Navy on Telegraph Hill. In 1946, they returned to Glens Falls, N.Y., where Bernard owned and operated a pharmacy and soda fountain he had worked in during his youth. In 1958 they took up the adventure of their lives, sold the business and moved to Anchorage.

Edith and Bernard lived in Turnagain by the Sea, where they raised six children and Edith lived for 51 years before moving to the Oregon Coast in 2010. On Mothers Day 1969, Edith started Flowers Incorporated, a specialty floral shop where her loyal customers became lifelong friends. Both Edith and Bernard were active in the Anchorage community. They traveled throughout the state, to six continents and some 50 countries.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 43 years, Bernard, who died in 1986. Edith did not remarry. She is survived by her children; Russell "Rusty" Kendall of Wasilla, Kim Kendall of Sitka, Carol Howells and her husband, Lew, of Clifton Park, N.Y., Mark Kendall and his wife, Roseann, of Salem, Ore., Amy Kendall of Talkeetna, and Lisa Kendall and her husband, Leo Adams, of Tillamook. Edith had 12 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Memorial contributions in Edith Marian Kendall's name may be made to PEO Chapter K of Anchorage, for the women's scholarship fund, attention Maggie Wilkenson, 3021 Concord Lane, Anchorage 99502. By invitation, memorial services will be held in the spring in Anchorage.