Obituary of Irene Edwards Blevins

Irene Blevins (Age 86) of Great Falls, VA passed away November 21 at Inova Hospital in Loudoun. She was born in Beckley, West Virginia in 1931, the last of 4 children, to Carl and Mary Edwards. Irene graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School at age 16, and finished her education degree at Concord College shortly after turning 20 years old. From there she made her way to the Washington, DC area where she secured a job teaching at Vienna Elementary School.

It was during this time that she renewed acquaintance with Don Blevins, also from the Beckley area, and this romance set her on her life's course as the wife of a Foreign Service Officer. Together with their two children Brian and Kim, they were posted in Naples, Italy, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, to Hong Kong, at that time a British Crown Colony, then back to the Washington DC area before serving as the wife of the Consul General in Guadalajara, Mexico and Toronto, Canada.

The wife of a Foreign Service Officer is a full-time position, and she served admirably throughout her husband's ascent, co-representing the United States in countless settings in a stately manner, with impeccable social grace and with elegant countenance.  

After the couple retired they settled back in Great Falls, where Irene indulged her passion for reading and gardening, while maintaining constant vigil over her husband and life partner Don, who had suffered a series of strokes. It would not be embellishment to say that when he passed, a small but significant part of her spirit went with him.

She was a wonderful, complicated, reserved, and  quite private person whose life ironically often thrust her at or near the center of attention. She handled that dichotomy with aplomb. She is survived and deeply loved by her devoted daughter Kim, son-in-law Scott, and their children Isaac and Casey; and son Brian and his wife Jodi, and their boys, Aaron and Tyler. She is pre-deceased by husband Don,  mother Mary Plants Edwards and father Carl Edwards, beloved sister Maxine, and brothers Carl, Jr. and Leslie.

Funeral arrangements are as follows. Family will receive guests on Saturday, December 2 from 10:00 a.m. until service at 11:00 a.m. at Adams-Green Funeral Home, 721 Elden St., Herndon, VA 20170. Interment to follow at Arnon Cemetery in Great Falls. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a contribution to the Save the Children charity in Irene's name.