A woman who spent nearly years as a resident of Newark died from complications of coronavirus today.
According to family, Ms. Ollie Edwards, 108, died at the Delaire Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Linden.
Edwards moved to Newark from Georgia in 1947 where she spent nearly 70 years in the city she called home.
Edwards came to Roselle for the first time in 1938.
She and most of her siblings left Georgia for a better way of life. Her sister (Carrie Bell (Swain) Gunn) was the first of the siblings to move to Newark.
Carrie paved the way for her sister Ollie.
Edwards again did domestic work and kept the children of family members for years while they worked.
She had a great reputation for her cooking. If you wanted good soul food and baking, she was the person to see.
Family members said she enjoyed cooking for them, especially her cakes and pies.
Many people paid Edwards her to make hog head cheese (south meat) and other dishes.
Edwards has three surviving children, 15 surviving grandchildren, over 37 great-grandchildren, too many great-great-grandsons and nieces and nephews to count living throughout the United States.
The family said Edward’s paternal grandmother was Cherokee Indian and she lived to be 121 years old. Edwards was the only surviving member of the original Swains.