Ms. EDGINGTON, VALENTINE to TAPS

Ms. VALENTINE EDGINGTON, (Wife of COL ROGER), passed away 1/10/2023.  Val was 94 and had been married to Roger for 71 years.

Valentina Edgington was born in a small village in Romania to Austrian
parents.  Forced to move back to their homeland by WWII, it brought her
from Romania to Linz, Austria. While in her early teens, she spoke four
languages, Russian, Romanian, German and English.  As the oldest
daughter of a family of ten, she found herself occupied with raising
many of her younger siblings.  In 1950, “Val” met her future husband,
and she married Sgt Roger Edgington in 1951.  Finding difficulty with
her immigration, her husband sought help from his Iowa Congressman,
Henry O. Talle, and a bill was passed in Congress that resolved the
problem that faced many soldiers regarding immigration of their wives.

In early June 1951 the couple moved to Paris and then to Vienna the
following year when Edgington was called to active duty as a Second
Lieutenant.    Movement in the military was not uncommon and Val moved
27 times in the years Colonel Edgington was in service.  Approximately
ten of those years, the couple were stationed in Europe. Their last Army
assignment was at West Point, NY, Edgington was the Comptroller of the
US Army Military Academy.  During their years in the military, they
adopted two wonderful children, Steven and Lisa, both are graduates of
the University of Oregon and now enjoy successful careers in San
Francisco and Portland, OR.

Val and Roger lived many places. Germany, Austria, France, Hawaii,
Kansas, Indiana, New York and of course Washington, DC. Although Val had
been trained as a seamstress, she began new opportunities, painting with
oils, teaching other Army wives the skills of cooking and even making
hats.  She made her daughter's wedding dress, which was totally
unmatched to anything available. Colonel Edgington retired from West
Point and the family moved to Portland Oregon in 1976.  A two-vehicle
convoy motored across the USA with their children and two pets.   A new
academic environment emerged for Val. Her skills were expanded, At
Portland State University, she taught wives of the faculty, to include
the Deans, how to cook European food, Wiener Schnitzel was her favorite
specialty.  She also hosted numerous dinners as the President's wife,
they continued to travel, and June of 1989 found them in Bejing, China
with other members of their faculty. This was a reciprocal.
  visit to four of the University presidents in China.  Significantly two
of the Presidents were in “house arrest” due to the student activity in
TinAmmon Square . Unfortunately, the visitors from the United States
were unaware of this mission by the students.  Ironically, later, Val
and her husband were in Bonn, Germany watching the large TV in the city
square showing the wall in Berlin collapsing... Valentina is an
extremely talented and traveled person, whether sitting in a box seat
next to the Governor of New York, at a football game in West Point or
giving a small child candy on a street in Mexico, or dancing with a US
Senator at the Thayer Hotel at West Point. She always knew what to do
and set the example for others... Although never in uniform, she served
this country as a military wife and experienced many separations where
she could not go, Korea, Vietnam etc.

In January 1997 the Edgington's moved to Sun Lakes and lived on East
Nacoma for 25 years. During That period, they traveled on cruises and
visited Val's family in Austria.    Recently she developed dementia and
she struggled with that for two and a half years.  Doctors recommended a
Memory Care facility.  Shortly after her arrival there she contracted
the COVID-19 Vuus.  She was one of eight and one did not survive.  After
four months there, her husband relocated her to a Villa facility here in
Sun Lakes. They enjoyed the period for about 20 months and then slowly
she started to be unable to express herself and passed away on
1/10/2023. . She will be remembered fondly by many.  There will be no
event at this time but sometime in April, the month of their wedding
anniversary, there will be an event, and everyone will be notified of
that in advance.