EDITH CUMMINGS 1950S NEED INFO DEN OBITUARY Collecting was passion for business executive One of Edith Cummings' quirks was secrecy about her age, and her family has decided to keep that a secret. By MARTY CLEAR Published December 24, 2004 SUNSET PARK - Edith Cummings had a sharp mind, a generous heart and plenty of endearing idiosyncrasies. She was an avid collector who some might consider a pack rat. One bedroom of her Sunset Park home was so crammed with boxes that no one could walk into it. Once, she bought a walnut armoire for $35 and paid $50 a month to store it. "She had a lot of stuff," said her son-in-law, Joe K. Gillis. "Some of it was, I'm sure, quite valuable." She was touchy about her age and refused to tell people how old she was. Even after her death on Dec. 19 from complications of heart surgery, family members didn't reveal her secret. "She was a very vain woman, and she wouldn't want her age known," Gillis said. "Even in her death notice we didn't put her date of birth. But she looked very young. She worked with me for many years, and many people thought she was my wife." But those personality quirks were only a small part of what made Mrs. Cummings special, Gillis said. Born Edith Bootes, she grew up in Oklahoma and married a local boy named Earl Cummings. They spent some of their younger years in Colorado. He had a career with Phillips Petroleum. She was a licensed real estate broker and also worked in the airline industry. "She was quasi-executive for Frontier Airlines," Gillis said. "She was very astute. She definitely had an executive type of intelligence." The couple and their only child, Judith, moved to Tampa in the mid 1950s. For the next 40 years she continued her real estate career with several local firms. She was vice president of Frank Burns Realty and later worked for her son-in-law at Joe K. Gillis Realty, at Bay to Bay Boulevard and Manhattan Avenue. She worked tirelessly, Gillis said. On top of her sales work, she took care of the office duties as a favor to her son-in-law. But her passions lay outside the office. She and her husband were avid golfers and took car trips all over the country. "They had time shares all over the South and out West," Gillis said. "They made sure that each one of them was near a golf course." She also loved antiques and had a booth at the Antique Mall on S Dale Mabry Highway for many years. Commemorative plates were her specialty. "She had Elvis plates, she had Mickey Mantle plates, baseball and football stars, a lot of Shaq stuff," Gillis said. When the Antique Mall closed earlier this year, Mrs. Cummings wasn't ready to retire from the antique trade. She moved her inventory to a new shop in Old Seminole Heights. Despite her career and hobbies, her life revolved around her family. She and her husband, who died in the mid 1990s, never fell out of love. "They would put on the radio and dance together," he said. "Just the two of them, in the kitchen. I think a part of her went with him when he died." Mrs. Cummings remained active until a heart attack and surgery slowed her down earlier this year. "I knew her 50 years," Gillis said. "We had her over for dinner every night, or we would bring her dinner. There aren't many guys who can say they love their mother-in-law, but I'm one who can." Mrs. Cummings is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, two brothers, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. -ST. PETERSBURG TIMES (4/11/05) EDITH B CUMMINGS Born 16 Aug 1918 Died 19 Dec 2004 Age 86 At 33629 (Tampa, Hillsborough, FL) SSN issued in Oklahoma -SSDI (4/18/05) Email to old FL emps: I recently came across an obituary for Edith Cummings which said she was a "quasi-executive" with Frontier in the 1950s. Do you recall her? -Jake Lamkins (4/12/05) She is not on the Nov 1955 or Feb 1960 FL Rosters. I cannot find her in any of my files. -Jake Lamkins (2/26/14) FL Club - FLacebook DEN employee Edith Cummings webpage has been upgraded. http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Edith_Cummings.html Need more info on Edith. -Jake Lamkins (2/27/14)