1916

Lillie Edens was born on 15 Jan 1916 in Sumter, South Carolina, USA at Second Mill a child of Robert Manning Edens and Lillie Ardell Frazier Edens.

1920

Lilly Edens was counted in the census on 09 Jan 1920 in Pontiac, Richland, South Carolina, USA as a 4-year-old, female, single, white, daughter. Also in the home was her father, Robert M Edens; her mother, Lil Edens; her siblings, Drake Edens, Morrow Edens, Robert Edens, Ansel Edens, Naomi Edens, Ruth Edens, Beverly Edens, Allen Edens, and Nancy Edens.

1924

On 03 Nov 1924, Miss Lillie Edens was listed as a living daughter in the obituary of Mr. Robert M Edens.

1930

Lillie F Edens was counted in the census on 08 Apr 1930 in Pontiac, Richland, South Carolina, USA as a 13-year-old, female, single, white, daughter. Also in the home was her mother, Lilllie A Edens; her siblings, Joe B Edens, Jack A Edens, and Nancy M Edens; boarders, Eugene Whitten, Artlitz Whitten, Walter Whitten; and cook, Sue Griffin.

1931

On May 10, 1931, Lillie Edens was listed in the newspaper article “Junior – Senior Banquet.”

1951

In 1951, in Clay, Florida, USA, Lillie Edens divorced Wayne Woodrow Nidiffer.

On June 27, 1951, Mrs. Lillie F Edens was listed as a living sister in the obituary of Mrs. D. T. Montrose.

1974

On January 8, 1974, Mrs. Lillie Herndon was listed a living half-sister in the obituary of Herbert M. Edens.

On July 18, 1974, Mrs. Lillie Edens Hearndon was listed as a living sister in the obituary of M. Robert Marion Edens.

2009

She died on 03 Dec 2009 in Columbia, Richland, South Carolina, USA. Lillie Edens was buried on 07 Dec 2009 in Columbia, Richland, South Carolina, USA at Greenlawn Memorial Park.

Lillie Edens Herndon

COLUMBIA – Lillie Edens Herndon died peacefully December 3, 2009, at her home. Born at Second Mill in Sumter County, SC, in 1916, she was the daughter of Robert Manning Edens and Lillie Frazier Edens.

Ms. Herndon lived nearly all of her life in Richland County and Columbia. She was valedictorian of the 1932 Class of Blaney High School. She completed Draughon’s Business College and earned a degree in Government at Columbia College, graduating with honors in 1986.

Ms. Herndon was a founding member of the Business Association of Columbia. She began her own career just after high school at Edens and Faust Grocery and Dry Goods. She bought Faust Department Store when she was 28 years old, and renamed it for her daughter, Kay. She sold this business to the Lourie family in 1951.

Her commitment to education included service as President of the SC Congress of Parents and Teachers, and President of the National PTA. She served as Chair of the South Carolina Board of Education, and Vice Chair of the National Association of State Boards of Education.

Ms. Herndon influenced school law and education policy at the state, national and international levels. She was instrumental in the development of educational television and the Education Improvement Act. She chaired the National Action for Foster Children, and served on the National Consortium for Child Mental Health Services.

By appointment of Presidents Ford and Carter, Ms. Herndon was Director of the Corporation of Public Broadcasting (CPB), serving three terms as Board Chairperson, and later as a Director of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

She traveled worldwide to better educational opportunities for children. By appointment to numerous delegations, she visited Department of Defense schools in Europe and the Middle East, and served as observer to international family and teaching conferences. Ms. Herndon represented the United States Office of Education in field study in the Soviet Union, Egypt, and Israel, and as delegate to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development Conference on Teacher Education in Paris.

In 1988, she was appointed by the South Carolina Supreme Court to the South Carolina Commission on Judicial Standards, serving as lay member until she retired in 2006.

Ms. Herndon’s commitment to community and economic development included her service on Richland County Council, where she was Chair in 1986. By gubernatorial appointment, as Trustee of Richland Memorial Hospital she served as Treasurer, Vice Chair, and Chair. She was a Trustee of Columbia College, and chaired the Board in 1988. She was Interim Director for the Leadership Institute and Forum at Columbia College. Ms Herndon served as Vice Chairman of the Columbia Urban League (1988).

Lillie Edens Herndon was widely recognized for her leadership and service. Her many honors and awards include Honorary Fellow of American Schools Health Association; South Carolinian of the Year (1979), an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities from Columbia College, National Public Radio’s Distinguished Service award; the “First Woman in Broadcasting” by the American Women in Radio and Television; the South Carolina “Women of Achievement’ Award; and the 1992 “Service to Mankind” Award by the Richland Sertoma Club.

Central to Ms. Herndon’s life were her faith and her family. She served her church as Sunday School teacher, deacon and deacon chair, member of Pastoral Search committees, and as member of the General Board of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, chairing the scholarship committee. Most recently, Shandon Presbyterian was her church home.

Ms. Herndon was predeceased by her son, Wayne Woodrow Nidiffer; three sisters, Naomi Edens Moore, Ruth Edens Oehmig, and Nancy Edens Shumake; six brothers, J. Drake Edens, Pete Mowry Edens, Joe Edens, Robert Marion Edens, Walter (Doc) Edens, and Jack Allen Edens.

She is survived by her daughter, Kay Nidiffer Rogers of Saluda, NC, her grandson, James Clark Seabrook Langley, Jr. and his wife, Rebecca of Charlotte, NC, and two grandchildren, Geoffrey Wayne Edens Langley and Katherine Elizabeth Langley; nieces Martha C. Edens, Gene Edens Bode, Marjorie Edens Youngblood, and Robin Edens Spires; and nephews, Joe Edens, Allen Edens, Greg Edens, and their families.

After a private family burial in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens, the family will welcome friends as they celebrate Ms. Herndon’s life on Monday, December 7 at 2:00 p.m. at Shandon Presbyterian Church, 701 Woodrow Street, Columbia. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to the Gene Lindler Memorial Music Fund, Shandon Presbyterian Church, 701 Woodrow Street Columbia, SC 29205, the Endowment Fund, Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, P.O. Box 275, Saluda, NC 28773, or the Lillie Edens Herndon Endowed Scholarship Fund, Columbia College, 1301 Columbia College Drive, Columbia, SC 29203.