---- — EDGEWATER, Fla. -- Elsie Reddick Ferry of Edgewater,  formerly of Slippery Rock and Mercer, died Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. She was 91.

Born May 9, 1920, Mrs. Ferry was a daughter of Henry and Grace Reddick of Slippery Rock, who operated the Slippery Rock Creamery with milk from the family farm on Reddick Road.

While a student at Slippery Rock High School, she and her brother drove a truck for the business before going to school in the mornings.

She graduated in 1939 and continued educational courses throughout her life. She attended school reunions until her death.

During World War II, she and her sister learned metric calibrations to become lathe operators at Cooper Bessemer in Grove City. When men returned from the war, she worked in the offices at the former Sharon Transformer Division of Westinghouse Electric Corp.

During that time, her first husband, Lloyd Bartley, with whom she had a son, was missing in action and declared dead; her second husband, Lawrence Ward, with whom she had a daughter, returned from the ravages of war action, but never fully recovered.

In 1958, she married Howard “Sonny” Ferry Sr., a Mercer police patrolman and steelworker who had four children to Anna Sponberger and two children to Mary Sponberger.

Elsie and Sonny moved to Florida in the 1980s. Their relationship lasted until his death in 1999.

Elsie owned and operated several small retail businesses, a children’s dress shop and a dry cleaning shop; and was a retail seamstress and quality assurance shopper for theaters, banks and other businesses.

She built her own house in Slippery Rock with guidance only from her father.

She was the first woman agent and later took full retirement from the American General Insurance Office in New Castle. She won several sales awards and trips in this male-dominated field. After retirement, she continued to work full-time at various jobs until age 85.

After Sonny’s death, Elsie remained independent. Her asset management skills remained sharp until her death.

She was an innovative and early user of “green energy” methods. She used solar panels on the roof, black water barrels, climbing vines and mini fans to circulate warm air in their very old, two-story house. This replaced coal oil heat, except in temperatures below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Her achievement was featured in a full story in The Herald newspaper, Sharon.

She and Sonny built a garage for a newly developed hydroponic, soil-free planting system. She grew many varieties of African Violets and traveled often to New York for supplies.

Elsie was active in several organizations. She was a senior regent of Women of the Moose; a member of the Rebekah Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; a proud member of the American Business Women’s Association and Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, and was president of its camp organization in Greenville.

Through her many contacts, she matched unwed mothers with people wanting adoptions and gave guidance in several arenas including business, health care and scholarships.

Still able to drive at 91, she played bingo nearly every day, was good at the game and loved the social gatherings. In fact, on Jan. 29, this past Sunday, Elsie’s ride to bingo was diverted to the emergency room where she had a cardiac arrest. As in life, she passed on her own terms.

Elsie’s family included: her siblings, Kathryn Reddick McCandless, the late Donald Reddick, Joel Reddick Jr. and Mary Reddick Parton; Elsie’s children, the late Wayne Bartley and Dixie Ward Jackson Zawodniak; and her stepchildren, Barbara Ferry Boris, Howard Ferry Jr., Linda Ferry, the late Patricia Ferry Campbell, James Ferry and Penny Ferry Gilstrap.

Elsie had 17 living grandchildren and 24 living great- grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by four grandchildren.



FERRY

Mrs. Howard “Sonny” (Elsie Reddick) Sr., 91, Edgewater, Fla., formerly of Slippery Rock and Mercer.

Service: Memorial service at 3 p.m. Thursday (2-9-12) in DUDLEY FUNERAL HOME, 1108 N. Dixie Freeway, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., with Dr. Bill Sharp, her pastor, officiating.