Edith Kirby Tatum

Edith Inez Kirby Tatum, 76, beloved wife, mother and friend, passed away Monday, July 7, at her home in Durham, North Carolina, from complications of progressive supranuclear palsy.
Born July 17, 1948, to the late John Benjamin and Mabel Stanfield Kirby in Orange County, North Carolina, Edith was the sixth of ten children. She attended Alamance Technical Community College and received an associate's degree in chemistry in 1969. She held a number of jobs through the years, ranging from working as a teacher's aide at Holt Elementary School in Durham to most recently electronics technician at Beckman Technologies. She took pride in doing every job to the best of her ability.
On April 4, 1969, she married Jessie Leonard Tatum Jr., and they had two children. Edith was a creative and imaginative mother. She took classes to learn how to decorate beautiful birthday cakes, write calligraphy, make silk flowers, and create stained glass works of art. She was also an avid reader and music lover.
Edith placed a high value on family. She adored her brothers and sisters and brought the family together on holidays as often as possible. She delighted in filling Easter eggs with candy for her great nieces, great nephews and grandchildren to find. If there was a caretaking need in the family, she did her best to fill it.
Anyone who knew Edith knew how much she loved birds. She led volunteer bird walks for the Eno River State Park almost every Saturday for 23 years. She had close friends in the birding community and went on adventures with them to places like Australia, Alaska, Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and many other locations to check off birds on her life list. She was a board member of the Chapel Hill Bird Club and a member of the New Hope Bird Alliance, a local chapter of the National Audubon network. She participated in numerous Christmas and spring bird counts through the years.
In her later years, she regularly attended Guess Road Baptist Church with long-time neighbors Bobbie Jackson and Pat Conway.
She is preceded in death by her parents John Benjamin and Mabel Stanfield Kirby; brothers, Jonah Kirby, Ralph Kirby, and Keith Kirby; sisters, Jean Kirby Sartin, Eva Kirby Crisp, and Carolyn Kirby Caudill.
She is survived by her husband of 56 years, Leonard Tatum; daughter, Beth Tatum English and her husband, Chris English; son, Bryan Tatum and his wife, Nickey Stell Tatum; four grandchildren, Sarah and Emma Tatum, Clay and Caro English; brothers, David Kirby and wife Linda, Coy Kirby, and Johnny Kirby and wife Cindy; sister-in-law, Cornellia Tatum Talley; and a host of nieces, nephews, and dear friends.
A family visitation will be held at Clements Funeral Home, 1105 Broad St., Durham, NC, on Thursday, July 10, from 6 to 8 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Eno River Association at 4404 Guess Road, Durham, NC, 27712 or EnoRiver.org/donate.