Elvira “Dittie” Widdicombe of Tryon died Thursday, February 4 at White Oak Manor.
Born in Flushing, N.Y., August 4, 1917, she was the daughter of Peter and Emma Palmer Guttilla. A life long librarian, she worked in libraries from New York to South and North Carolina and retiring, after many years, at the Lanier Library. She helped found the Meeting Place and Peppermint Shoppe at the old St. Lukes Hospital on Carolina Drive. She also worked for Mental Health Services in White Plains, N.Y., and Tryon. Dittie was well known for her generosity and volunteer work. Active in hosting exchange students with the American Friends Service, Great Books, she also was known for cooking and baking fine food as gifts to friends.
Married to her loving husband, Robert Lord Widdicombe (1916-2008) and survived by her sons Richard Palmer Widdicombe and wife, Martha Bruyn in Utica, N.Y., and David B. Widdicome of Tryon. She was predeceased by her sons, Peter Reynold Widdicombe (1943-2009) and Robert L. Widdicombe Jr. (1947-1980). She is also survived by grandsons Adrian Lucas Schmettau of Raleigh, N.C., and William Widdicombe (married to Maria) in Jaraboca, DR. and great grandchildren James and Robert Widdicombe.
She is also survived by her sister, Marie Palmer Ackerman of Tryon and nieces and nephews Lauren Clarke (Mrs. Tim) of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., and Lynne Clarke (Mrs. Thomas) of Naples Island, Calif., and John F. Osborne (Virginia) of Fairlawn, N.J., and their son Bill Osborne. Also, brother-in-law Alan and wife,Rosemarie Widdicombe of Pleasanton, Calif., and sister-in-law Mary Widdicombe of Copley, Ohio.
A reception in Celebration of her Life will be held by family and friends at White Oak Village at a date to be announced later in this month of February. Friends all knew Dittie Widdicombe as a great and sweet lady and this is a poem she wrote to let others know how she felt about life…
This is My time
Do not feel burdened by my going
This is My time
I neither fear nor welcome it
But accept what is to be.
This is how Ive tried to live
Accepting people as they are
And how they want to be
Understanding what makes people
As they are, has been of great interest to me.
I hope youll understand
That I have enjoyed this life
Through troubled and happy times
My wishes were not always met
But neither were my fears.
I dearly loved the friendships
I have made – They helped me grow
Into what Ive become.
But, Rob above all has been
My strength and my greatest friend.
As to my dear family, they have
Sustained me, loved me, put up
With me for enough years.
Now it is time to let
Those who live, get on with living
And make the very best of life remaining.
With love and affection Dittie Widdicombe