Elva Embrey, age 94, passed away Wednesday April 2, 2008 in Ashland, VA.
Born and raised in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along with her 13 siblings, she was the daughter of the late Ottaway and Pearl Groves.
As a child, she developed a bone infection in her leg long before the age of antibiotics. The doctors drained the infection from her bone, but told her mother that she would never walk again and would likely die. Although it was a stiff leg, Mrs. Embrey walked until she was 89 years old. The doctors were right; she did pass away, at the age of 94.
While attending public school in Sperryville and Bealeton, she met Clifton Embrey and they married when she was 19. They remained on her parents' dairy farm for a few years and moved to Fredericksburg in the late 1930's where he took a job at the Sylvania Plant, later called the FMC. They lived in Sylvania Heights and bought a home on Tidewater Trail after WWII. She lived in that home for 56 years, and raised four children. Once the children were grown, she found time to fish with her husband, enjoy bowling with Fredericksburg leagues, and entertain company. Mrs. Embrey was also a member of Sylvania Heights Baptist Church.
In addition to her parents, Mrs. Embrey was preceded in death by her husband, Cliff in 1996, a daughter Kozie Embrey Miller, four brothers and three sisters.
Mrs. Embrey is survived by her son Clifton "Buddy" Embrey, Jr. and his wife Marilyn; daughters, Barbara Broaddus and her husband Joy, Laura Baldwin and her husband Bill; brothers, John, Billy, and Russell Groves; sisters, Dorothy Utz, Elizabeth Hoffman, and Alice Hanson. She is also survived by nine grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
A funeral service will be conducted at 11:00am Friday, April 4, 2008 in the chapel of Laurel Hill Funeral Home with interment to follow in Laurel Hill Memorial Park.
The family will receive friends and family from 10:00 - 11:00 am prior to the service.
On line condolences can be made at laurelhillfuneralhome.com.