Edith Campbell Corry

Edith Campbell Corry, 97, of Charleston, South Carolina, widow of William H. Corry, entered into eternal rest Tuesday, June 11, 2013. Her funeral service will be held Tuesday, June 18, 2013, in The French Huguenot Church, 136 Church Street, Charleston, South Carolina at 1:00 p.m. The family will receive friends immediately following the service in the Huguenot Heritage Hall, 44 Queen Street. Interment will be private.

Born in 1915, Edith was the daughter of Samuel Edward Campbell, prominent local grocer, and Edith Herman Campbell. She grew up in Charlotte, NC, in a family that originally had four children but lost two, when her older sister succumbed to scarlet fever in 1911 and her older brother died in the 1918 flu epidemic. Edith attended the Charlotte public school system, graduating from Central High School in 1933, and then attended Queens College in 1934. She married William H. Corry in 1935.

During the Depression, when jobs were hard to come by, Edith worked as a secretary for no pay to gain enough experience to become a paid employee somewhere and was soon offered an accounting job with General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC). After WWII, the Corrys relocated to Charleston when Edith's husband, Bill, was transferred to open a branch office for Motors Insurance Corporation (MIC). During this time, Edith took a job in the accounting department at the American Tobacco Company. Since the post-war housing market in Charleston was so limited, the Corrys decided to build a home in Edgewater Park.

In 1956, seeking a change in career, Edith earned a real estate license and became a sales agent for The Calhoun Company. When the company dissolved two years later, Edith earned her broker's designation and decided to start her own business, using the name of her prior employer. Charleston, like many smaller cities of that era, was an insular, male-dominated community in the 1950s. As a result, career opportunities for women were extremely limited. With the support of her husband, Bill, she worked hard and The Calhoun Company quickly became one of the most active real estate offices in Charleston, eventually leading the then new Multiple Listing Services in both listings and sales by the early 1960s.

In 1965, the William Ravenel mansion at 13 East Battery came on the market and the Corrys' offer to purchase was accepted. The transaction was notable as the most expensive residential real estate sale that year. After moving to their new home, the Corrys became avid antique collectors and through the years, acquired an outstanding collection of "period" American furniture. Baker Furniture Company has reproduced several of the Corrys' antiques with the proceeds of the sales benefiting the Historic Charleston Foundation.

Once retired, Edith continued to give to her community. She was a longtime member of the Election League and a founding member of the Greater Lowcountry Republican Club, which named her it's Charleston County Republican Woman of the Year in 2007. In 2008, Edith was honored by the Centenary Church on Wentworth Street when a pipe organ was donated in her name. She was also a longtime member of The French Huguenot Church and contributor to it's recent renovations. With the death of her husband, a Corry family gift to the Medical University established an endowment chair to benefit Alzheimer's research.

She is survived by her niece, Christine Campbell Ray, and her husband, Theodore Stanley Ray, of Richmond, Virginia.

Memorials may be made to The French Huguenot Church, 136 Church Street, Charleston, SC 29401.