Savannah- Dorothea H. Edwards "Thea" died at the age of 89 in Savannah, Georgia.

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on November 24, 1921, she is the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Halloran. Mrs. Edwards began her industrious academic achievements when she graduated from Boston Latin Prep School in 1939. A lifelong advocate to education, politics, and medicine, she earned a degree in Pre-Medicine with a concentration in Psychology from Boston University in 1943. In 1948, Dorothea obtained a Masters Degree in Nursing from Yale, which she completed a semester early by attending Harvard University over the summers.

While at Yale she met the love of her life, Ernest Goodall Edwards, M.D., who was completing his residency in Orthopedic Surgery. They shared fifty adventurous years together. She was a loving, generous mother of four children and "Nanny" to six grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her husband in 2000, her son, Ernest Edward, III in 2003, and her daughter, Priscilla Edwards Johnson in 2003.

She is survived by two children, Richard and Gregory Edwards of Savannah, GA and six grandchildren: Kimberly Johnson of Charlotte, NC; Kathleen Johnson Abendroth Robert of Baton Rouge, LA, Kevin Johnson Megan of Richmond, VA, Kristina Johnson of Fort Collins, CO, Theodore Benjamin Edwards and Christopher Mathew Edwards both of Savannah, GA; former son-in-law, Daniel Johnson Brenda of Forest, VA and Christine Chung of Rincon, GA. Lastly, her faithful companion, "Baby", her dachshund for the last six years.

Dorothea or Thea to all of her friends spent sixty years serving Savannah in various charities, notably co-founder of Chatham Academy which served learning disabled and she chaired the Georgia Regional Hospital.

A Memorial Service to celebrate the life of Dorothea will be held at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, May 12, 2011 at First Presbyterian Church with Reverend Dr. Stephen C. Williams officiating.