Eudora DeRenne Roebling

1929 - 2017

Eudora De Renne Roebling passed away peacefully on March 5, 2017 in Sarasota, Florida. She was born in Savannah, Georgia, the daughter of Augusta and Wymberley De Renne. Her childhood years were spent at the family home, Wormsloe Plantation, and in 1938 the family moved to Athens, Georgia.

She graduated from St. Margaret's School in Tappahannock, Virginia and received a degree in history from Mt. Holyoke College, with minors in German and Geology, subjects that served her well in later years when she traveled extensively.

She inherited a love of gardening from her mother, a former National Flower Show judge and wherever she lived, she always planted a garden.

Badminton and horseback riding were her favorite sports and she was a big supporter of the Pony Club. Her musical tastes ran from folk music and German drinking songs to opera and she always carried a harmonica in her pocketbook. She had an insatiable curiosity and devoured books on every subject imaginable. She was a Colonial Dame and a member of the Welsh Society, the Mount Holyoke Club and the Junior League.

In 1953, she and Wainwright (Rip) Roebling were married in Athens, where they raised a family and lived for 25 years before moving to Panama City Beach, Florida. It offered excellent fishing and boating, something they both loved.

Before leaving Athens, they bought a plane and Eudora took flying lessons, got a pilot's license, and also earned a "HAM" short wave radio license, which was useful when they got a forty-foot sports fisherman. She followed up with boating classes and they were soon able to make extended trips, leading them to Longboat Key, Florida, yacht club memberships, and a house on a canal with space to garden.

Seventeen years later they moved, across the bay to One Watergate in Sarasota, and they downsized to a 23-foot Grady-White they which they kept in Punta Gorda. They maintained a "home away from home" there until she passed away.

She is survived by her loving husband of 63 years, Wainwright Roebling, a son Robert Roebling, wife Renee, daughter Mary Gabrielle of Dothan, AL, a daughter Audrey Roebling and Edward Steenstra of Longboat Key, FL, Clara Roebling of Encinitas, CA, Henry Roebling, wife Patricia of Savannah and son Charles Roebling. Other family members include nephew George De Renne, wife Vi and sons Kentwyn and Wymberley, of Dothan, Craig and Diana Barrow of Savannah, Dorothy and Bill Glenn of Savannah and son Sam of Nashville, Helen Hagan and William Watkins of Sylvania, GA, Karl "Bucky" Roebling of Eatonton, GA, Cathy Cundiff, and their daughters Allison and Mary Roebling, Anne and Jack Pritchard, their children David and Sarah of Eatonton, GA, Tish Rumsey of Watkinsville, GA, and several nieces, nephews, and grandchildren.

Graveside services will be held at Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA at 11:00 on March 25, 2017.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of her to: St. Margaret's School, 444 S Water Ln., Tappahannock, VA 22560.

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