Edith Derolez

DEROLEZ, Edith Woolfolk, 92, Orlando, Fla., passed away February 5, 2007. She was born May 20, 1914 in Brewster, Fla., daughter of Walter Woolfolk Sr. and Minnie Smith Woolfolk. She was preceded in death by her parents and three siblings, Eva Woolfolk, Grace Woolfolk Mehaffey and Walter William Woolfolk. She attended Lake Wales High School, Lake Wales, Fla., and upon graduation, worked one year for a law firm in Gainesville, Fla., before joining the U.S. Government as an U.S. Army civilian employee. Her first job was in Trinidad during World War II before being assigned as a secretary at the Nuremberg Trials. As embassies opened in Europe after the war, she moved to the newly opened American Embassy in Paris for 10 years before going to NATO' s military arm of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) for two years in Paris. When President DeGaulle threw SHAPE out of France, she moved to Belgium to work at SHAPE headquarters there. She was living in Belgium when she retired in 1975 after 30 years of overseas duty. Upon retirement, she moved back to the United States to Holiday, Fla. She lived there until 1995 when she moved to Westminster Towers in Orlando. In her free time, she enjoyed painting and creative writing. She is survived by her two nieces, Kay Woolfolk Elliotte of Davidson, N.C. and Deana Woolfolk Costner of Orlando and one nephew, Noah Levia of Scottsdale, Ariz. She is additionally survived by nine great-nieces and nephews and numerous great-great-nieces and nephews. Graveside services will take place at 11 a.m. Thursday, February 8, 2007, at the Lake Wales Cemetery, Lake Wales. Marion Nelson Funeral Home of Lake Wales is handling arrangements.