Glennn and Carolyn
(Tom Edrington IV maternal grandparents)
 


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 Glenn and Carolyn spent their adult years in the Philippine Islands where Josephine was born and raised - Glenn was a leader in the Elks while Carolyn established the poinsettia in Asia. 

 

With the fall of the Philippines in WWII, Glenn and Carolyn were interned in Santo Tomas camp. Their daughter, Josephine Edrington had departed  just prior to the start of the invasion with her son, Thomas, for the States. Glenn passed on while in the camp and Carolyn was liberated and returned to the United States where she spent many years with her Island friends playing mahjong and canasta. It was only years later reading the events of these times that one came to appreciate what a courageous and strong woman Carolyn truly was. All that we knew was a loving grandmother who seemed so kind and gentle that the tough survivor side was impossible to imagine. From her Santo Tomas experience we have memories from "Big Nana"  on all possible ways to cook a chicken, even with no chicken!

Glenn graduated from Michigan Agricultural College in 1910. He was an old fashioned pillar of the community and Past Exalted Ruler of the Elks in the Philippines Lodge No. 761 prior to WWII. While in the United States he engineered and designed  the steps to the LDS Temple in Temple Square, Salt Lake according to stories from  Josephine. He was an active producer of stage shows featuring the ex-pat community and he managed Tidewater Oil in the Orient for years. Glenn died in Santo Thomas prison camp.

 

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 On the left is Glenn with a poinsettia plant. Prior to WWII Carolyn imported some of these plants and began to grow them in her yard. Glenn then sent the results out to all of the Tidewater Oil customers at Christmas time, all over the then "orient". When you are in the Philippines or other places in South East Asia today, think of Glenn and Carolyn who started the plant in this area of the world.

The family is always also amazed by the fact that "Grandpa" Glenn always wore a suit, even in the tropical humidity and heat of the Philippines. Glenn died while detained in the Santo Tomas prison camp during WWII.