Many of you may remember Elinor from the 2007 (San Antonio) & 2012 (Greeneville) reunions. Elinor is also the sister of member Lynn Babb.
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Elinor Babb Stroud, age 91 died at Aarondale Retirement and Assisted Living Community in Springfield, Virginia Sunday, November 9, 2014, of natural causes
She was born October 9, 1923 to Olivia and Ernest Babb, on a farm in Chuckey, Tennessee, the third of four children and grew up there at a time when homes in Appalachia were heated with wood, lit with kerosene and were self-sufficient and somewhat isolated farming enterprises.
Elinor was always interested in beauty, music and dancing. She became an accomplished seamstress, tailor and home decorator.
World War II offered her a chance to leave the farm and see more of the country. She trained in typing and stenography and worked for the armed forces. After the war, she met Mason Carroll Stroud while on vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC and married him in 1946. They raised four children and lived in Great Falls SC, Carteret, NJ and Smithtown, NY eventually settling in McLean VA in 1967.
Prior to moving to Virginia, Elinor was primarily a homemaker who sewed clothing for her children, made draperies for the house and taught herself how to slipcover furniture. After moving to Virginia, she studied for and passed the licensing exam to become a real estate agent, remaining in the field in one capacity or another for many years.
Elinor enjoyed traveling and made trips to England, Egypt, Morocco, Japan, China and Israel. After her divorce, she became friends with Bill Williams retired from the Architect of the Capitol and an architect who had worked in Ethiopia. Together they traveled the East Coast, sailed on his boat and enjoyed music and dancing. They found a new home in the Falls Run community in Fredericksburg, VA. When he could no longer sail, Bill took up painting and started a painting class at the Falls Run Community Center in which Elinor was an enthusiastic participant. After Bill’s death in 2005, Elinor stayed on in Fredericksburg, decorating her house, playing bridge and doing yoga and tai chi.
Elinor will be remembered for her honesty, integrity and loyalty , her unfailing politeness and a sharp wit. She is affectionately remembered by fellow residents and staff at Aarondale Retirement and Assisted Living Community.
She is survived by her younger brother, Lynn S. Babb of Wilson, NC, her children, Pat Stroud, Camilla Stroud, Cathey Sobuh and Bill Stroud, Nine grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Elinor was preceded in death by her parents Ernest and Olivia Babb, sister Dorothy, brother Milton and by her ex-husband M. Carroll Stroud and her companion and friend, Bill Williams.
Services will be held at 1:00 p.m. , Thursday, November 20th, 2014 at the Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, 308 Hanover Street, Fredericksburg, Va. 22401. Relatives and friends are welcome at the service and the reception at the church immediately following the service from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.