Edna Lucille Phipps

The oldest of five surving children (a 3-year-old sister died), Edna gave up her dreams of college and a career when she had to drop out of high school after her sophmore year to take care of her two brothers and two sisters. She had always been a top student in her classes and never stopped yearning for those lost dreams. She suffered a number of miscarriages before Larry was born, and lavished incredible devotion on him. A daughter born a few years later died before her first birthday. A little more than a year before Larry was conceived, Edna became extremely ill and, at one point, was declared dead by the hospital doctors. She "came back" from that moment. Later, she shared that she'd had an "out of body" experience - watching the doctors and nurses at the bedside as they marked her passing. At that moment, she tells of seeing what she recognized as an angel telling her that she would live and give birth to a son, who had a special purpose in God's plan. Although she could never find a church that "felt right" to her, she never lost that memory of the angel's visit - and her joy at knowing she would soon be a mother.